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Liz Anderson

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Mills and McCartney

Monday, 17th March 2008

I couldn't agree more with Daniel Finkelstein:

But I just have to ask - why does Heather Mills get £24 million for being married to McCartney for four years?

Did she play a role in making the money? No, he earned his fortune before he met her.

Did she sacrifice her earnings or earning power while standin' by her man? No, she is certainly more marketable now than before she met McCartney. And any deterioration that has taken place in the last year has been as a result of her behaviour since the divorce.

Does she need £600,000 a year? No, nobody needs £600,000 a year. There might have been a case of her having become accustomed to it during their marriage, except for this - she was only married to him for a very short time.

Isn't it for the child? There is a separate sum - £35,000 plus nanny and school fees - for the child.

The question has nothing to do with Ms Mills seeming to be a spectacularly unpleasant woman. Even if she had been a veritable saint, it seems ridiculous that she - or anyone else - should be handed such a sum for four years of marriage to a man whose success and fortune had nothing whatsoever to do with their marriage.

One might suggest that it is Sir Paul who deserved compensation for four years of marriage to Heather Mills. But that would be ungallant, so best not.

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Jennie

March 17th, 2008 6:40pm

The average length of marriage at divorce is less than 12 years, so McCartney and Mills were married for about a third of the average. So, not so long, but not so short either. And I'd say that four years is plenty of time to have become accustomed to a life of luxury.

Water

March 17th, 2008 7:10pm

Your hitting them out of the park today Pollard.

Verity

March 17th, 2008 7:37pm

That's OK. Girls can be ungallant. McCartney was probably only too glad to be scraping her off the bottom of his shoe, and thought the price was worth it. Far from helping him develop his long and spectacularly successful career, she has done nothing but embarrass him for the last couple of years, so she should actually be in a negative position.

Joshua

March 17th, 2008 11:29pm

"No, nobody needs £600,000 a year." -- Finkelstein needs to get out more.

THX1138

March 18th, 2008 12:29pm

To Quote Dorothy Parker. " If you want to know what God thinks of money,just look at the people he gave it to"

patricia

March 18th, 2008 3:00pm

Maybe Spectator readers should be compensated for having to put up with offensive bloggers like you and Melanie Phillips?

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