Legal giants prepare for McCartney v McCartney

Anthony Julius always seemed set for a glittering legal career.

As a partner with leading London law firm, Mischon de Reya, he was an expert in high-profile libel and media cases, having represented Stephen Fry, Robert Maxwell and Jerry Hall, among others.

The first member of his orthodox Jewish family to go to university - he got a first in English at Cambridge - he was schooled in the classics but remains fully in tune with popular culture and is said to be a Quentin Tarantino fan.

Mr Julius is said to be charming, plain speaking and owlish, but highly erudite, having read Malory's Morte d'Arthur at the age of eight and written books himself on TS Eliot, modern art and anti-Semitism.

Fry, whom he represented after he walked out of the West End production of Cell Mates, once famously referred to him as "probably the most intelligent man I have ever met."

None of these qualities are, however, believed to be behind Lady Heather Mills McCartney's decision to employ Mr Julius in her forthcoming divorce settlement with Sir Paul McCartney. It was the fact that Sir Paul had himself hired Fiona Shackleton, the formidable divorce specialist who represented the Prince of Wales in his divorce from Diana, the Princess of Wales.

The Princess had hired Mr Julius.

One associate of the McCartneys, who knows them both well, said: "It was just so obvious that Heather would hire Anthony Julius once Paul had asked Shackleton to represent him. Heather sees herself very as a sort of Lady Diana figure and of course she couldn't resist it."

The Princess of Wales wanted Julius, although not then a divorce specialist, to handle her case after he represented her against the Daily Mirror when it published pictures of her working out in the gym. Despite her reported reservations about the size of his firm's fees, he eventually helped her gain a £17 million ($50 million) settlement; in return he got a present of an Asprey's silver ink blotter, inscribed "To Anthony, thank you for giving me my wings, love Diana".

He later served on the board of her memorial trust, although there was later a row, and he resigned over the fees charged by his firm.

Her trust in him to handle her case was reinforced by the knowledge that he was then himself experiencing the collapse of his own marriage. Now 50, he is married for the second time, to journalist Dina Rabinovitch. They have seven children between them.

Now a senior partner, he is reputed to charge up to £500 an hour but still tends to handle big libel cases rather than divorce.

It is not believed that a QC has been chosen to represent Lady McCartney should the case be ultimately contested in court - unlike that of the Wales' - but it is likely to be a high-profile divorce specialist.

Lady McCartney will be seeking to get a substantial share of the Macca millions - an estimated £825 million of them, which includes properties in Scotland, the estate in East Sussex, his house in St Johns Wood and the ranch in Arizona.

Her stepfather, Charles Stapley, says she should get £200 million.

"Why should 200 million be considered excessive if a man has 800 million? Why should she be branded a gold-digger? It's just a percentage of his wealth. If he was worth 80,000 and she got 20,000, nobody would be saying the things they have been saying."

However, some in Lady McCartney's circle believe she is just as concerned about getting her own share of the media coverage. One associate of her husband said: "Heather knows that whatever the final figure is, she will be set up for life. I think she wants her day in court and all the headlines that go with that, because she's a fame digger, rather than a gold digger."


The PR advisers

For some years, Anya Noakes, a freelance publicist, has represented Lady McCartney behind the scenes, fielding inquiries from journalists over everything from her landmines campaign to her appearances on chat shows.

Noakes is an experienced public relations operator who went freelance in 1995, having worked for several years in the film and television business, including stints at Granada and Carlton.

She has also run the media operation at the London Film Festival and the Edinburgh Television Festival.

However, more recently, Phil Hall - a former editor of the News of the World who now runs his own public relations company and has been advising Lady McCartney unofficially for some years - has appeared on the scene in a formal capacity and is handling what is termed Lady McCartney's "news stories" relating to the divorce.

Mr Hall, 50, is well versed in the ins-and-outs of the red-top world. As well as editing the NoW, he worked on The People, the Sunday Express and was briefly Editor-in-Chief of Hello! Magazine.

Clients of Phil Hall Associates include West Ham football club, Carole Caplin and impresario Bill Kenwright. He also now represents his former employers Hello! Magazine.

Almost certainly with the assistance of Mr Hall, Lady McCartney has already ensured a number of favourable "snatched photo-opportunities" for some newspapers, including her attendance at a Madonna concert last weekend and others of her outside one of the McCartney homes in London, where she went to drop off their daughter, Bea, and found herself locked out.


Close companion

Fiona Mills, the sister of Heather Mills, is one of her closest companions, having returned from living in Greece at the time of her sister's marriage to Sir Paul and becoming her sister's "manager."

On Lady McCartney's website, she is the author of several testimonials on the Fact and Fiction page, attempting to debunk some of the claims levelled against her sister, involving suggestions that she is a fantasist, about her past career as a glamour model and over previous relationships. In the section entitled A Message from Fiona, she outlines her "anger and disgust" at some of the accusations about her sister.


Trouble and strife

August 3

Paul pulls out of an anti-landmine charity performance organised by Heather, saying it would not be appropriate "in the circumstance".

August 6

The Mirror reports that Heather has removed around £1 million from the couple's joint bank account. Her friends portray Paul as "boring" and "tight with money".

August 7

Heather's side accuses Paul of "playing mind games". A source close to the ex-Beatle counters that he "feels betrayed", and alleges that she took three bottles of household cleaning fluid from his home without permission.

- INDEPENDENT