Heather Mills: Who is Paul McCartney’s ex-wife and how long were they married?

A documentary showing the life of Heather Mills and her tumultuous relationship with The Beatles musician Paul McCartney has aired on Channel 5.

The 90-minute TV special saw the former model’s friend Pamela Cockerill open up about the early days of Heather’s marriage with the former Beatle and how their divorce caused a media storm.

But who is Heather Mills? Here is everything you need to know.

Who is Heather Mills?

Heather Mills was born in Aldershot, Hampshire, on 12 January 1968.

The 55-year-old is a former model, businesswoman and activist who first appeared in the limelight in 1993.

She was encouraged to start modelling at 18 by her former husband and computer executive Alfie Karmal and later established her own agency ExSell Management, which she sold in 1989.

More recently, she has become an animal rights advocate.

How long was she married to Paul McCartney?

Heather and Sir Paul McCartney met in 1999 at the Pride of Britain Awards in London, following the death of The Beatles musician’s wife Linda a year earlier.

McCartney became intrigued by the model’s charity work, and the pair began appearing publicly, before he proposed on 23 July 2001.

The singer reportedly bought Mills a £15,000 diamond and sapphire ring which he had purchased in Jaipur, India.

Mills and McCartney went on to get married in a lavish wedding in Glaslough, Ireland in 2002.

However, their marriage began to break down, and they separated three years later, on 17 May 2006. A divorce settlement was completed in 2008, and Mills was awarded £23 million in cash and assets.

McCartney and Mills’ relationship was described as “volatile from the beginning” as both are strong characters. It is claimed Heather struggled with Sir Paul always being the ‘centre of attention’ when he started getting involved in her charitable causes.

She also found it difficult living in his Rye home in East Sussex - which he bought with Linda in 1973, according to her close friend Pamela Cockerill.

Cockerill said: “I think Heather found it quite hard to live in the same house that, only a couple of years before, Linda had been living in, and the house hadn’t been changed that much. Linda was an inescapable presence because obviously, she was a big part of Paul’s life.

“There were little plaques saying “I love Linda” over the doorways and photos of her around. It must have been very hard to deal with.”

Did she have a child with Paul McCartney?

The couple announced they were having a child in May 2003, and Mills gave birth to Beatrice Milly McCartney on 28 October 2003.

It was later revealed Mills had suffered a miscarriage in the first year of their marriage.

Beatrice has decided not to follow in the footsteps of her parents and has a keen interest in marine biology.

She previously played the saxophone, demonstrating her musical ability most likely inherited from her father.

What happened to Heather Mills’ leg?

Mills was knocked down by a police motorcycle in 1993 at the age of 25, which resulted in an amputation of her leg from below the knee.

She continued to model using a prosthetic limb and is now the vice president of the Limbless Association.

Which song did Paul McCartney write for Heather?

McCartney composed the song "Heather" for his ex-wife. It was featured in the 2001 album Driving Rain and played during their wedding ceremony.

He explained the song in an interview in 2001: “‘Heather’ – there’s a funny story about this track. It actually came about early one morning. I’d got up and was just jamming on the piano, and Heather, who doesn’t know all of The Beatles songs because she’s young, said, ‘That’s great – which Beatles song is that?’ I said ‘It’s not, I’m just making it up.

“And she’s like ‘What? Now? Making it up now?’ Yeah. Suddenly she’s saying, ‘Get it down! You’ve got to get that down. Get it on a tape, now!’ I’m saying ‘No, it’s OK, I’m just noodling’, but she’s insisting ‘Get it down!’. So we found a little dictaphone and played it into that. And then she said, ‘By the way, what’s it called?’ ‘Oh’, I said, ‘It’s called ‘Heather.’”