Heather Mills: when was she married to Paul McCartney, who is her daughter - what happened to her leg?

The struggles of Heather Mills and her marriage to The Beatles star Paul McCartney have been revealed in a Channel 5 documentary which aired on Wednesday 19 April. The Trials of Heather Mills saw the former model’s close friend Pamela Cockerill bring the walls down on their rocky relationship and how their divorce caused an early noughties media storm.

All of this was detailed in a gripping 90-minute special which chronicled the 55-year-old’s life, and included a never heard before explanation of a life-changing incident that led to one of her legs being amputated.

This is everything you need to know.

When was Heather Mills married to Paul McCartney?

Heather and Sir Paul first met in 1999 at the Pride of Britain Awards in London, which was just over one year after The Beatle’s first wife Linda died of breast cancer. His first marriage had lasted 29 years and they shared three children: Mary, Stella and James, while also adopting Linda’s daughter Heather from a previous relationship to Joseph Melville See Jr.

Mills and McCartney went on to get married in a lavish wedding in Glaslough, Ireland in 2002.

Leaving no stone unturned in the Channel 5 documentary, Mills' close friend Pamela Cockerill explained how the former model “struggled” to live in McCartney’s family home in Rye, East Sussex which he bought with Linda in 1973. She claimed that the house was covered in loving tributes to the extent that rooms were specially designed in her image.

Cockerill said: “I think Heather found it quite hard to live in the same house that, only a couple of years before, Linda had been living in and the house hadn’t been changed that much. Linda was an inescapable presence because obviously, she was a big part of Paul’s life.

“There were little plaques saying “I love Linda” over the doorways and photos of her around. It must have been very hard to deal with.”

McCartney and Mills' relationship was been described as “volatile from the beginning” as both were strong characters, with the model not a fan of her husband becoming the centre of attention and getting involved in her charity work. Mills had worked with Cambodia Trust, Voluntary Services Overseas and Adopt-a-Minefield to provide support for those who had lost limbs and were landmine survivors - all of which Paul got involved with to her discontent.

The couple then went on to share a child together one year after they eloped in 2003 and announced their separation just three years later. A divorce was then finalised in 2008 which saw Mills granted £23 million in cash and assets in a settlement.

McCartney then went on to wed his third wife, businesswoman Nancy Shevell in 2011. It has been reported that Mills married her boyfriend Mike Dickman in December 2021.

Who is Heather Mills’ daughter?

Mills gave birth to her first and only child with now ex-husband McCartney in 2003. Their daughter, called Beatrice, is reportedly not following in either of her parents’ footsteps into the limelight as she has interests in marine biology.

What happened to Heather Mills’ leg?

Mills was knocked down by a police motorcycle in 1993 at the age of 25 which resulted in an amputation of her leg from below the knee.

The 55-year-old has regularly credited veganism for helping to cure her leg wound and stop it from getting infected.