Paul McCartney, Heather Mills granted preliminary divorce decree

Justice Hugh Bennett on Monday granted a preliminary divorce decree for McCartney and Heather Mills. The decree could become final in six weeks and one day if no one objects.

McCartney and Mills were not in court for the brief proceeding.

Mills, 40, emerges from the rancorous divorce with a settlement of 24.3 million pounds (US$47.5 million; euro30.7 million) and her reputation damaged by her ferocious televised outbursts against McCartney, 65.

At the conclusion of the divorce hearing in March, Mills dumped water on the head of McCartney's lawyer, Fiona Shackleton.

"Mrs. Shackleton said something under her breath so I cleansed and baptized her," Mills said at the time. "I thought she looked fantastic _ I thought it did her the world of good."

Mills retains custody of the couple's 4-year-old daughter, Beatrice.

McCartney retains the bulk of his assets, estimated by the court to be worth 450 million pounds (US$880 million; euro570 million).

Unlike fellow Beatles John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, McCartney had an enduring first marriage to the former Linda Eastman. They were together for 19 years before she died in 1998.

Lennon left his first wife, Cynthia, for Yoko Ono. Starr and his first wife, Maureen, divorced after 10 years of marriage. Harrison's marriage to Patti Boyd ended after 11 years.

Mills, whose left leg was amputated below the knee after a 1993 motorcycle accident, married McCartney at an Irish castle in 2002. They separated four years later.

Last year, Mills claimed in interviews that McCartney had failed to protect her and their daughter from slander, death threats and other abuse, and she accused the media of persecuting her. In November, Mills said she had been "treated worse than a murderer or a pedophile," despite years of work for land mine victims and animal welfare charities.

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