LONDON, July 29: The divorce between ex-Beatle Paul McCartney and estranged wife Heather Mills has exploded in acrimony as a large chunk of his huge fortune lies at stake, Britain’s tabloid press alleged on Saturday.

In formal divorce proceedings, 64-year-old McCartney blamed his wife’s ‘unreasonable behaviour’ for the split and said she was ‘argumentative’ and ‘rude to staff’, the Sun and Daily Mirror newspapers alleged in front page stories.

A spokeswoman for the 38-year-old charity campaigner and former model said Mills would be filing counter-claims both in Britain and the United States, the papers reported.

“Any view she has on her divorce will be handled discreetly. She does not feel the need to repudiate claims that she may be headstrong or feisty,” the spokeswoman told the two newspapers.

McCartney and Mills announced the end of their four-year marriage two months ago. Lawyers now are negotiating the terms of their divorce.

The ex-Beatle has hired the same lawyer that represented Prince Charles in his divorce from the late Princess Diana.

Before they wed in 2002, McCartney spurned Mills’ offer of a prenuptial agreement to protect his estimated 825-million-pound fortune in case of a split.

Experts reckon Mills could walk away with between 50 and 200 million pounds from Britain’s richest musician.

Mills, who lost her left leg in a 1993 road accident, met McCartney at a charity event in 1999, a year after the singer’s wife of 29 years, Linda, died from cancer.

They have a two-year-old daughter named Beatrice.—AFP