LONDON:

Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney and his wife Lady Heather Mills McCartney are to separate after four years of marriage, the couple said on May 17.

They said in a statement they had “found it increasingly difficult to maintain a normal relationship with constant intrusion into our private lives.” The musician, 63, and former model Mills, 38, said they had agreed “with sadness” to “go our separate ways” but added that the split was “amicable”.

The couple married in June 2002. They have a daughter. The pair met in 1999.

The Daily Mirror reported that for the last three weeks, Mills has been staying at the couple’s home in Hove while recovering from a leg operation. The tabloid said McCartney has remained on the family farm some 90 km away.

When the couple wed, McCartney decided against a prenuptual agreement to protect his estimated $1.57-billion fortune in case of a divorce. The Daily Mirror said Mills could walk away 200 million pounds richer in case of a divorce.