Paul and Heather Mills news

Ex-Beatle McCartney fires PR guru

Sir Paul McCartney has sacked his publicist of 15 years, Geoff Baker.
The former Beatle said he made the move because the "professional standards" of Mr Baker, a longtime friend as well as PR man, had fallen in recent months.

Sir Paul also denied what he said were "particularly sad" claims that his wife Heather wanted Mr Baker out.

Mr Baker, a former newspaper reporter, had dealt with Sir Paul's music and Beatles developments over the years. He declined to comment.

In a statement, Sir Paul said: "I find it very sad that after years of friendship, my publicist Geoff Baker and I are parting.

"Over the past few months, his behaviour has not reached the professional standards I had come to expect from Geoff and it is with regret that I am forced to end our relationship.

He added: "It is particularly sad that he has chosen to attempt to implicate my wife Heather in this business and I can say now that she has had absolutely nothing to do with this.

"In fact, she has always been a great supporter of his.

Assault allegations

"This is purely between Geoff and myself and I am sad to see it end in this way."

In September last year, Sir Paul "jokingly" sacked Mr Baker after an incident during a visit to David Blaine's box on London's South Bank.

Mr Baker, admitted he had "stupidly" tipped off a photographer about the visit. Sir Paul had sacked him on the spot but later reinstated him.

Police investigated allegations of assault following an alleged fracas with a photographer at the scene, but no proceedings were brought due to a lack of evidence.

September 15, 2004 -- PRNewsWire

Internet Diamond Retailer Igloo Diamonds Partners With Adopt-A-Minefield To Support and Fund International Landmine Clearing Operations -- Proceeds from Each Stone Sold Will Directly Finance Landmine Removal in Mozambique

Igloo Diamonds has partnered with Adopt-A-Minefield in a unique collaboration that will use the proceeds from the sale of diamonds to directly finance landmine removal in Mozambique. Under the terms of the partnership, Igloo Diamonds will dedicate approximately 50% of its gross profit per diamond sale (less 10% in administration fees) towards the clearing of minefield plots in Mozambique.

Adopt-A-Minefield, the non- governmental organization supported by Goodwill Ambassadors Paul McCartney and Heather Mills McCartney, raises private funds to clear minefields, builds awareness of the global landmine crisis and assists landmine survivors.

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl...ORY=/www/story/09-15-2004/0002250676&EDATE=

September 18, 2004 -- The Mirror

THE CHANGING WORLD OF A ROCK LEGEND

When news emerged last weekend that Sir Paul McCartney had sacked his publicist of 15 years, the man in question was picking blackberries.

In truth, Geoff Baker had been on a type of gardening leave for two months - since he was informed he wouldn't be accompanying his famous employer on his latest world tour.

"I lost interest in the day-to-day process of PR, which is not as exciting as working on a world tour," he said at the weekend.

But a friend reveals, "He has been feeling the chill for some time. Geoff lived for the tours - and not being asked to go was the final straw."

His exclusion was a warning of what was to come but then the 48-year-old former showbiz reporter had been waiting for the axe to fall since Heather Mills arrived on the scene.

As long ago as last year, he was saying, "It'll probably end very soon. I really wouldn't be surprised. It's been a blast and that's what it's meant to be. It's only rock 'n' roll."

In a statement this week, the ex-Beatle vehemently denied that Baker's departure had anything to do with his 36-year-old wife of two years but failed to explain exactly why Baker had fallen out of favor.

"She has absolutely nothing to do with this," Sir Paul furiously insisted. "This is purely between Geoff and myself, and I am sad to see it end in this way."

But Baker's messy exit is far from the first sign of change in Macca since Heather came into his life.

Critics point to his drastic image overhaul - the dyed hair, the "groovy grandad" outfits - the toe-curling chat-show confessions of love for Heather from a man who once led his life with quiet dignity, and the egotistical demands to reverse some Lennon-McCartney song credits.

There is also the bitter rift, constantly denied, with his children who refuse to defend their stepmother. Fashion designer Stella, in particular, is said to loathe her.

And despite her charity work and her husband's constant public praise, Heather has been unable to shake off nagging doubts about her past.

She is haunted by claims highlighted in a recent Channel Four documentary that she once accepted gifts from rich Arabs and that she clawed her way out of a poverty-stricken, abusive childhood. Heather has always maintained a dignified silence on this touchy issue.

Sir Paul refuses to confront the darker aspects of her past but her rose-tinted, rags-to-riches story has failed to endear her to a public who harboured huge affection for her predecessor Linda.

Those who'd paint Heather as a calculating opportunist point to the £180,000 she made selling the story of how she lost her leg in a horrific road accident.

But the departure of Baker, a close friend of Sir Paul's late wife and a constant reminder of the 62-year-old star's former life, is, some believe, the most overt sign yet of the control Heather is said to wield over her billionaire husband - and the lengths to which he will go to keep her happy.

"When Heather came on the scene, there were immediate tensions between her and Geoff," claims an insider. "Some feel she may have found it hard to cope with Paul's old life."

Sir Paul's relationship with Baker stretches back to 1989, when Baker, then contracted to PR firm LD (Laister Dickson), was sent on tour with the ex-Beatle and his wife. The couple instantly took a shine to this laid-back, hippyish, chain-smoking vegetarian and insisted on keeping him at their side.

Over the next 15 years, Baker accompanied them around the globe. As Geoff openly discussed last week, his "liberal views about cannabis" certainly tied in with his former Beatle boss's much-chronicled past.

Baker's newspaper background also made him invaluable. He was the man who advised Sir Paul that it might be time to give up the thumbs-up pose he always adopted for the cameras.

But Baker was more than just an employee. He was a regular visitor to the McCartney family home, in Peasmarsh in East Sussex. To Sir Paul's children - Mary, Stella and James - he was almost an uncle, ever-present in their lives, largely because of his close, comfortable relationship with Linda.

Such was his loyalty to the family that when Linda lost her fight against breast cancer in April 1998, Baker agreed to lie about where she had died, telling journalists it was at a retreat in Santa Barbara, to protect the family's privacy.

In fact, as the Daily Mirror exclusively discovered, she had passed away at her family's secret retreat near Tucson, Arizona.

Later, asked if he felt bad about telling such a lie, he memorably replied, "I don't give a s**t."

He later added, "Morally, I have done nothing wrong and legally I have done nothing wrong. I am just trying to keep this family together." His loyalty to them counted for more than anything - even the truth.

Just why Sir Paul would axe such an ally some believe speaks volumes about the way his life has changed since marrying Heather in 2002.

They have abandoned the Peasmarsh home, where he and Linda raised their children, and based themselves at a house in Hove with their daughter Beatrice.

While Sir Paul and Linda once prided themselves on their unpretentious lifestyle, under Heather's influence, the McCartneys are reinventing themselves.

Although Sir Paul continues to deny them, rumors that Heather is keen for them to move to LA so that she can pursue her ambition to become a TV star refuse to go away.

Heather is said to harbour dreams of hosting her own chat-show, despite her woeful interview with Paul Newman while standing in for US host Larry King last year.

If Sir Paul does quit Britain for the anonymous glitz of LA, his old life will have vanished for ever.

There was a poignant moment during the star's recent appearance at the Glastonbury festival when as he played Wings songs, fans chanted Linda's name - and Heather stood watching from the side of the stage.

In this new, rather more showbizzy world that Sir Paul has embraced, rough-and-ready Geoff, with his mop of black-grey hair, scuffed leather jackets and jeans, seems somewhat out of place. Baker himself doesn't appear surprised by his dismissal.

This seemingly final split comes nearly a year after Sir Paul fired him temporarily, over a incident with a photographer who snapped the ex-Beatle as he visited magician David Blaine during his glass box stunt in London.

A scuffle broke out and Baker, who had just dined with the star in a Soho restaurant, later admitted tipping off the snapper. He was sacked and then reinstated.

He later claimed, "For some reason - probably only known to my mental hospital - I decided to tell a photographer to come over. Paul was incandescent."

One associate confirms, "That was always the way Geoff operated. Before, Paul was usually amused by the way Geoff did things. But his fury over the Blaine incident was a clear indication that things in the McCartney world were changing."

He had screamed, "You're bang out of order! You're fired!" Although he later claimed, "I haven't fired him - it was a joke."

The incident is a sign of what was to come. "I thought he was serious but he wasn't," said Baker later. "We do pull each other's leg but he's never sacked me before."

The extent of his loyalty meant that despite clashing with former glamour model Heather, Baker also defended her to the hilt on several occasions.

He stepped in during her row with wedding dress designers Caroline Eavis and Annie Brown, who claimed she had reneged on an agreement that they would provide the garment for free, in exchange for publicity. Heather later agreed to pay the full £10,000 ($18,300) cost of the dress.

In March 2003, Baker also deflected true claims that Heather was pregnant, once again proving that he wouldn't let the truth get in the way of his loyalty.

In his statement last week, Sir Paul blamed Baker's unprofessional conduct for his dismissal. In truth, Baker's dealings with a woman he found it hard to like and with an increasingly demanding boss, went far beyond the call of duty.

Fortunately for Sir Paul, revenge appears unlikely. Baker remains the keeper of the music legend's secrets - and not just because he signed a confidentiality agreement.

Despite being dropped like a stone, he will not betray the star. Partly, friends say, it is because he fears Sir Paul but, largely, he is too loyal to do anything to harm the man whose image he defended for so long.

"There is as much chance of me writing a book about Paul as there is of me taking life seriously," he said last year. "I could write hundreds of books about Paul but I'd never do it - even if someone put a gun to my head. It would cheapen everything."

In the fickle world of celebritydom, most stars would be grateful to have such a friend at their side.

With his demanding role as Sir Paul's PR man behind him, Baker has everything to look forward to - a peaceful life at his cottage near Devizes, in Wiltshire, a novel he is writing and clay-pigeon shooting.

Meanwhile, Sir Paul, who has cut himself off from his old support network, may soon feel Baker's absence all too keenly.

The day may yet come when he regrets turning his back on his most loyal servant.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/tm_objectid%3D14655445%26method%3Dfull%26siteid%3D...

September 19, 2004 - NY Post

Paul Sighting in New York

Paul McCartney checking the sales racks at Baby Gap on 74th and Lexington and turning down an autograph request, saying, "If I did it for you, I'd have to do it for everyone. You understand, right?" ...

BARRETSTOWN'S 10TH ANNIVERSARY GALA BALL

Barretstown celebrated helping 10,000 kids in 10 years with a glittering gala ball.

Paul McCartney, Heather Mills and U2's The Edge joined a host of top socialites to mark the 10th birthday with Hollywood actor Paul Newman, who founded the camp for children with cancer and other serious illnesses.

MC for the night was Father Ted's Ardal O'Hanlon and the guests dined and danced in a spectacular Kuam marquee in the grounds of Barretstown Castle, Ballymore Eustace, Co Kildare.

The highlight of the night was when McCartney joined The Edge on stage to sing a duet of Peggy Sue while McCartney played the specially-commissioned Barretstown guitar. The guitar, made by Mark Nicol of County Wexford in the shape of the charity's castle logo, was snapped up by Cork art dealer Theo Waddington for a cool €55,000. Other items in the auction, led by Nick Nugent of Goffs, included a corporate package to see Manchester United play Liverpool at Old Trafford, a place on the Barretstown Challenge Trek to Brazil and a Golfing package to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Barretstown needs to raise €4 million each year to fund its programmes of challenges, activities and fun which aid in the recovery of sick children from across Europe.

The star-studded occasion raised €440,000 for the charity on the night. If you would like to make a donation, however small, call Barretstown on LoCall 1850 500 123.
http://www.barretstown.org/events/gala04.html

McCartney turns his back on Kintyre
ANGUS HOWARTH

SIR Paul and Heather McCartney have confirmed that they won’t be visiting their Scottish retreat for their annual holiday amid growing speculation that the couple no longer visit the home the former Beatle shared with his late wife, Linda.

It emerged yesterday that that the couple, who married in 2002, have decided to take a month off, mainly in the United States, and will return to their London home next week without spending any time at the singer’s one-time favourite retreat on Kintyre.

McCartney’s affection for Scotland was strengthened by the time he spent at his Argyll home, High Park Farm near Campbeltown, after the traumatic break-up of the Beatles.

The musician credits the farm’s atmosphere for helping him overcome the depression he suffered after the split. He penned one of his most popular hits, Mull of Kintyre, in tribute to the serenity he found there.

McCartney was accused two years ago of snubbing the memory of his late wife after commissioning a £20,000 statue of Linda from the sculptor Jane Robbins, his cousin, and then missing the unveiling.

The singer’s daughter, Stella, made a private visit to the site in Campbeltown the following day, but her father was still on tour and to date it is not known if he has yet seen the work.

Yet the singer recently revealed that High Park Farm, which he bought as a tax break over 30 years ago before the break-up of the Beatles, was one of the few places he felt truly at home.

He said: "It has been like a little hideaway. It is a lovely place. I love it. I love the people up there. I can sort of breathe when I get up there, breathe pure air."

Despite his decision not to visit his Scottish home for the past two years, McCartney’s love of the country is not in doubt and only last week he joined protests against plans to "wreck" the Highlands with huge "ugly" giant electricity pylons.

Sir Paul and Linda were frequent visitors to Kintyre during her life. The couple and their children grew to love the solitude and freedom their remote property offered. Sir Paul converted to vegetarianism while living at the farm, and was controversially fined £100 for growing cannabis there.

It is understood he is still recovering from a very bad public split from his publicist of 15 years, Geoff Baker - a professional break-up that prompted Sir Paul to issue a statement last week denying that his wife was the cause of the parting. He said: "I find it very sad that after years of friendship, my publicist Geoff Baker and I are parting.

"It is particularly sad that he has chosen to attempt to implicate my wife Heather in this business and I can say now that she has had absolutely nothing to do with this. In fact, she has always been a great supporter of his."
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=1102412004

September 20, 2004 -- Daily Mail

Leave my Lady out of this, Sir Paul tells the friend he fired.

As any devoted husband would, Sir Paul McCartney rode to the defence of his wife Heather after the latest attempts to portray her as a vindictive meddler.

The former Beatle denied claims that she was behind the sacking of his publicist Geoff Baker last month after a 15-year partnership.

Sources claimed at the weekend that the pot-smoking Mr. Baker had barely been on speaking terms with Lady McCartney, who disapproved of his habit.

Baker has told friends that she was desperate to get rid of him, largely because hew was close to Sir Paul's first wife Linda, who died of cancer in 1998. But, in a strong-worded statement Sir Paul said, "I find it very sad that after years of friendship my publicist Geoff Baker and I are parting..."

The statement comes a few months after the 62-year-old musician phoned a number of newspaper columnists to say the had the wrong idea about his 36-year-old wife.

Baker refused to get involved in a slanging match saying, "I'm not commenting on this. I'm writing a novel about fathers at the moment and I"m happy."

However, sources close to the former journalist say he was 'deeply upset and let down' by the statement.

Baker has turned down several six-figure offers to tell his story - saying he still feels loyal to Sir Paul, despite not getting a severance package.

The growing problems between Sir Paul and his publicist surfaced last September (2003) when he temporarily fired Baker for tipping off photographers at David Blaine's stunt at the Thames.

In April, McCartney hired showbusiness specialists The Outside Organisation to look after his world tour, pushing Baker out of his main role.

The end finally came after the two men rowed when the publicist tried to get Sir Paul to talk to the press when he performed at Glastonbury.

September 20, 2004 -- Daily Mail

Macca The Knife

This is a story about loyalty and friendship, but most of all about reputations, and what people will do to protect them.

The reputation in question is that of Sir Paul McCartney, often thought of as the nicest of the Beatles - you know, cheeky Paul, thumbs-aloft Paul, the writer of some of the greatest pop music ever composed, who at 62 is happily enjoying a second marriage and a second crack at fatherhood.

For Paul, who is worth around £760 million ($1.4 billion), has had a rather torrid week. Earlier this year he parted company with Geoff Baker, the quietly-spoken PR man who has looked after Paul and his interests for 15 years. By agreement, neither said a word about the end of their relationship. But now it has been claimed that Geoff Baker was pushed out by Sir Paul's new wife, Heather.

It is said that she disapproved of him from the moment she first laid eyes on him - something which Baker hasn't felt able to deny. The blame is being laid a the door of his dope-smoking habit. "I don't think Heather shares my liberal views on cannabis," said Baker, a father of six.

It was incautious for mild-mannered Baker to say even this much in public for as an ex-employee of Beatle Paul he is subject to a confidentiality agreement so watertight that on could use it to cross the Atlantic.

There was evidently fury in the McCartney camp at this apparently minor transgression and Sir Paul has felt moved to issue a long and strongly-worded statement accusing his one-time friend of trying to blacken the name of his wife, and calling "unprofessional."

The beginning of the end came when Geoff wasn't taken on McCartney's European tour last year - the first he had missed. Instead the PR was given to the Outside Organisation, once Victoria Beckham's handlers.

It was they who released McCartney's statement about ditching Baker.

"Over the past few months, his behavior has not reached the professional standards I had come to expect from Geoff and it is with regret that I am forced to end our relationship," he said.

"It is particularly sad that he has chosen to attempt to implicate my wife Heather in this business and I say now that she has had absolutely nothing to do with this. In fact, she has always been a great supporter of his. This purely between Geoff and myself and I am sad to see it end this way."

What makes this situation so very intriguing is that Baker was more than just a PR man for McCartney - he was a close friend and a confidant.

To see him cast out so brutally has surprised many in the business although one old media hand, describing the treatment of Baker as 'Stalinist', added, "That's the way His Nibs runs things, you know."

It must all be tremendously hurtful for Baker, 48 because he broke one of the cardinal rules of public relations by developing an affection for the client which verged on hero worship.

This led him to make the mistake of having no other clients but Paul - even though he was at the time asked to take on the PR for Oasis. It's a mistake which leaves Baker out of a job and, it appears, out of PR or good. For who would take on a man whose most recent boss has publicly described him in such unflattering terms?

The story starts with Baker being hired 1989 in rather unusual circumstances. He was, at the time, a freelance hack selling showbiz tidbits to the newspapers; McCartney was what he remains, an international star.

But although Baker was then not the most reputable of CVs, Paul's manager, Richard Ogden, was very anxious that he should be signed up. A world tour was looming and McCartney felt he needed someone physically with him on the road.

His existing PR outfit did not wish to dedicate a member of staff for such a long period of time - and there were only a few weeks to go until McCartney was due to leave.

Baker was introduced to his master-to-be at a drinks party by Bernard Doherty, McCartney's then publicist, and the unlikely pair hit it off. The temporary arrangement was put in place, and during the long grind of the world tour Baker proved his mettle. He never, it seems, tired of attending to Paul and his wife Linda's every need. Baker was happy to get involved in all of the on-the-road soap operas of love affairs, rows and the problems backstage.

He produced a daily 'newspaper' to amuse the crew. "Geoff played a blinder," said an old friend. By the time the tour was over, McCartney had decided to hire him full-time.

"Linda really liked Geoff from the start and that was a factor in the whole relationship," added the old friend of Baker's last night.

"He loved the whole idea of being on the road and being a rock and roller. They would smoke dope together and noodle around on guitars. It was Geoff's idea of heaven."

Baker became a regular visitor to the McCartney house in Peasmarsh, East Sussex, and developed warm relationships with the children too. His job grew to encompass any kind of 'looking after' which McCartney desired.

"If Paul needed a holiday sorting out or anything trival like bits of admin, the Geoff would do it. Peasmarsh was a second home for Geoff."

This 'second home' arrangement sounds cosy, and part of it, according to Geoff's friends, was a shared enthusiasm for cannabis.

"They would roll a joint every night," says one in Geoff's circle.

McCartney, famously jailed in Japan for possessing cannabis, has made no secret of his enthusiasm for the drug and it was very much part of the alternative lifestyle which Paul and Linda shared with him.

The relationship was not conventional: most PRs would baulk at the scope and level of the tasks which McCartney entrusted to Geoff Baker. But Geoff loved it, not the least because at some point over the next decade he developed what his friends call 'blind faith' in McCartney.

No matter what merit Paul's offerings had - albums like "Flaming Pie," not-very-good poetry - Geoff Baker took the view that it was all fantastic.

A fellow publicist told the Mail, "Geoff ate, drank and slept Paul McCartney. He worshipped the guy. It is tempting because if you have the ear of the talent then you become very powerful, but you must never believe in them in that way. If you do you're screwed."

Baker was instrumental in allowing Paul and his family privacy during Linda's fight with cancer, successfully keeping her final struggle a complete secret until she had died Arizona, and been buried, and Paul and the children were safely back home.

After Linda's death in 1998 he helped to comfort McCartney, and was among the trusted friends who guided him through the delicate process of grieving. They couldn't have been closer.

The following year, though, McCartney met Heather Mills at a charity event. The one-time glamour model seemed like the most unlikely consort but McCartney was soon completely smitten. Heather's influence over Sir Paul was immediate and obvious.

The couple moved out of the house in Peasmarsh where Paul and Linda had brought up their children and made a new start at a seaside place in Hove, also in East Sussex.

Her influence was also clear in a new, freewheeling lifestyle. Whereas before, Paul had been the ultimate homebody sitting around the farm with Linda and baking veggie treats for the kids, under Heather's influence he left his now grown-up brood to their own devices and went traveling. Cosy nights in with a spliff (joint) were no longer on the cards.

With Heather by his side, McCartney began to re-enter the public arena, supporting her anti-landmines work in a string of interviews, and going out together to fancy restaurants in London.

Outwardly, the effect the romance had on him was obvious: he started to dye his hair chestnut, and took to wearing embarrassingly trendy trainers.

This change in style, according to insiders, was part of a change of culture which spelled the end of his relationship with Geoff Baker.

"The writing was on the wall for Geoff as soon as Heather arrived," said another long-standing friend. "My feeling is that Heather was uncomfortable with him because he was so much a part of of Paul's old life. I certainly think that Geoff had that impression. It was obvious from the start she wasn't keen."

Geoff Baker found himself sidelined despite his loyalty. In truth, he should not have been so surprised: McCartney has long had a ruthless streak even when it comes to friends and relations. Look at the way he reversed the usual Beatles credit from Lennon/McCartney to "composed by Paul McCartney and John Lennon" on a live album two years ago.

McCartney, it must be said, has a strong sense of what is his, and strong instinct to protect it.

Tensions between Baker and McCartney first became evident in the run-up to the couple's marriage in 2002. According to Baker's friends, McCartney felt Geoff was to blame for some of the bad press Heather was getting. He was stunned by what was said about her, and particularly sensitive about suggestions that his children didn't like her, even though he admitted himself that a second marriage was "difficult" for them to accept.

"I think Geoff did take some of the heat over Heather and the Press," said a former colleague. "Who else could be blamed? If you take the view, which Paul does, that Heather is blameless and wonderful, then it's got to be all Geoff's fault."

Then, last year, came the bizarre David Blaine incident. McCartney arrived at Tower Bridge at 1am to see the illusionist but clashed with a photographer who asked to take his picture. "Listen mate," he shouted. "I've come to see this stupid **** in a box and you're not taking a picture of me tonight."

When he realized Geoff Baker had directed the photographer towards him, he fired him on the spot.

The following day, still believing he was sacked, Baker issued a long and groveling apology. He was reinstated later that morning, but friends suggest that his relationship with McCartney never really recovered. "Paul didn't speak to him properly for months afterwards," said a friend of the publicist.

Meanwhile, McCartney's new life with Heather became more and more absorbing. They became parents to baby Bea, and focused a lot of their attention on their new family. Also, Heather has shown some interest in media work by taking over the Larry King Show on CNN for one night.

To this end Heather has her own PR outfit and she and McCartney have formed new and more assertive ways of dealing with Press attention which is unwanted. They are quick to invoke lawyers to stop pictures being taken of the baby, and are also active in rebutting stories which they do not like.

For some time they haven't used Geoff Baker any more to complain, but instead have used their own legal team. McCartney recently made a legal complaint over the apparently innocuous suggestion that the couple might move to America for a while so that Heather could do some TV work.

The final word, then goes to McCartney. His camp says that Baker was a "bad influence" and that, especially after they had the baby, Heather and Paul just didn't want Geoff around anymore. Perhaps so, and it is of course McCartney's perfect right to hire and fire as he sees fit, and his perfect right to insist on confidentiality clauses to protect himself and his family.

But as one PR veteran put it this week, "You've got to feel sorry for Geoff. I don't think he ever really believed that Paul would do this to him. He thought that he was protected because he was his friend."

McCartney turns his back on Kintyre

ANGUS HOWARTH


SIR Paul and Heather McCartney have confirmed that they won’t be visiting their Scottish retreat for their annual holiday amid growing speculation that the couple no longer visit the home the former Beatle shared with his late wife, Linda.

It emerged yesterday that that the couple, who married in 2002, have decided to take a month off, mainly in the United States, and will return to their London home next week without spending any time at the singer’s one-time favourite retreat on Kintyre.

McCartney’s affection for Scotland was strengthened by the time he spent at his Argyll home, High Park Farm near Campbeltown, after the traumatic break-up of the Beatles.

The musician credits the farm’s atmosphere for helping him overcome the depression he suffered after the split. He penned one of his most popular hits, Mull of Kintyre, in tribute to the serenity he found there.

McCartney was accused two years ago of snubbing the memory of his late wife after commissioning a £20,000 statue of Linda from the sculptor Jane Robbins, his cousin, and then missing the unveiling.

The singer’s daughter, Stella, made a private visit to the site in Campbeltown the following day, but her father was still on tour and to date it is not known if he has yet seen the work.

Yet the singer recently revealed that High Park Farm, which he bought as a tax break over 30 years ago before the break-up of the Beatles, was one of the few places he felt truly at home.

He said: "It has been like a little hideaway. It is a lovely place. I love it. I love the people up there. I can sort of breathe when I get up there, breathe pure air."

Despite his decision not to visit his Scottish home for the past two years, McCartney’s love of the country is not in doubt and only last week he joined protests against plans to "wreck" the Highlands with huge "ugly" giant electricity pylons.

Sir Paul and Linda were frequent visitors to Kintyre during her life. The couple and their children grew to love the solitude and freedom their remote property offered. Sir Paul converted to vegetarianism while living at the farm, and was controversially fined £100 for growing cannabis there.

It is understood he is still recovering from a very bad public split from his publicist of 15 years, Geoff Baker - a professional break-up that prompted Sir Paul to issue a statement last week denying that his wife was the cause of the parting. He said: "I find it very sad that after years of friendship, my publicist Geoff Baker and I are parting.

"It is particularly sad that he has chosen to attempt to implicate my wife Heather in this business and I can say now that she has had absolutely nothing to do with this. In fact, she has always been a great supporter of his."

http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=1102412004

Paul McCartney Friends Help Auction
21 September 2004

Paul McCartney and wife Heather Mills will hold an auction to support the Adopt-A-Minefield Charity' and some of their closest friends have donated to the appeal.

The auction will feature a drum skin autographed by Beatles drummer Ringo Starr, Sting has donated a signed bass guitar and even Yoko Ono is helping the cause by giving away her "70th Birthday Bag" which she has inscribed "Imagine Peace! Love, Yoko Summer of 2004" and contains her book Grapefruit, War Is Over postcards and the Orange Factory remix of Open Your Box.

Other music artists contributing include Aerosmith, Norah Jones, Coldplay, Jimmy Buffett, Tom Petty, Kid Rock, BB King and Shania Twain.

Actors Steve Buscimi, Aiden Quinn, Ray Romano, John Travolta, Nicole Kidman and Ellen DeGeneres have likewise added to items up for grabs.

Adopt-A-Minefield is a program of the United Nations to resolve the global landmine crisis.

Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, U2, Sting and Peter Gabriel are among the artists donating tracks to a benefit album for Aung San Suu Kyi http://www.dassk.org/. The Burmese humanitarian, pro-democracy leader and 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner has long been imprisoned by her homeland's repressive government. The two-CD For the Lady: Dedicated to Freeing Aung San Suu Kyi and the Courageous People of Burma is due Oct. 26.
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1491225/20040920/u2.jhtml?headlines=true

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McCARTNEY GIVEN SMALL ROOM IN NAME CONFUSION

Former BEATLE SIR PAUL McCARTNEY and his wife HEATHER MILLS were left disappointed recently, when their bid to book a hotel suite under an anonymous name backfired and they were given a small room.

The couple - who became parents to baby BEATRICE last October (03) - normally check into hotels under the same bogus name so that hotel staff know who they are.

But this tactic doesn't always work, as McCartney explains: "Usually we show up under the name JOHNSON, but on this occasion we got given a crappy room.

"So I was like, 'Don't you know who I am?' and we got a better room."

http://www.contactmusic.com/new/xmlfeed.nsf/0/4E914DB8BB46560D80256F1700488D76%21opendo...

McCARTNEY BEGS SCHWARZENEGGER TO SAVE GEESE



SIR PAUL McCARTNEY has written to Californian Governor ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, begging him to ban traditional methods of producing foie gras - a delicacy made from goose liver.

The ageing rocker is a member of animal rights organisation VIVA!, which is campaigning to stop farmers from force-feeding the birds before they are slaughtered.

He is so upset about the way the geese are treated, that he has contacted Schwarzenegger to ask him to change the law, according to news site THE SCOOP.

The letter reads, "Your signature could be the one that ends the suffering of these poor animals.

"I feel sure that your natural feelings of compassion will encourage you to sign a basic humane bill into law."

23/09/2004 17:23

September 23, 2004 -- NME

The September 18 New Musical Express features 1001 Awesome Rock Facts which lists interesting facts about the Beatles and Paul McCartney: Paul is the only person in history to have had hits as a soloist, and as part of a duet, a trio, a quartet, a 5-piece and a 6-piece band. Sgt. Pepper is the most spoofed album cover ever, and Paul's "legendary thriftiness has made him rock's first dollar billionaire. Macca once asked a florist for a discount if he paid for flowers with cash instead of a credit card."

September 23, 2004 -- New Statesman

"Britain must own up to its WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction) programme"

Every half-hour, someone is killed or maimed by a landmine or unexploded ordnance. Yet a low-tech campaign means help is at hand - literally, writes Heather Mills McCartney.
......
http://www.newstatesman.com/site.php3?newTemplate=NSArticle_NS&newDisplayURN=200409270019

September 24, 2004 -- BBC News

55,000 people who shaped Britain

Almost 55,000 people who have had a major impact on British society are profiled in a new 60-volume book that has taken 12 years to compile. It has cost more than £25millon ($45 million)and taken 10,000 writers to update the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.

The new version of the dictionary, which was founded in 1882, costs £7,500 ($13,725) and takes up 12 feet of shelf space.

Women make up 10% of the entries - double the previous share - and include Queen Elizabeth I, Dusty Springfield, Linda McCartney and Virginia Woolf, whose father compiled the first edition.