By MATT BORN, Daily Mail

Last updated at 16:38 31 July 2006

Heather Mills is furious Sir Paul McCartney has begun divorce proceeding against her - because she wanted to divorce him first.

Sir Paul has instructed lawyers to act on the grounds of her "unreasonable behaviour" - only 10 weeks after they split.

A source close to the charity worker told The Daily Mirror: "She wanted to divorce him.... she didn't expect it to happen this quickly."

The source added: "She's not going to make it easy. This could drag on."

MORE:



• Heather: I fear I'll be shot dead like Lennon



• Heather stays away from Sir Paul's birthday celebration



•Heather and call-girl dined with the Blairs



•Heather and Paul's relationship in pictures



When they announced their separation in May, Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills promised that the split was amicable, and - more importantly - would remain so.

But just two months on, and the gloves - as well as the wedding rings - are truly off as the couple square up for what could become one of the most acrimonious, drawn out and expensive divorce battles in British legal history.

The former Beatle issued formal divorce proceedings after the couple failed to reach a deal for a £30m 'quickie' divorce.

In the petition submitted to the courts, he has blamed the break-up on her 'unreasonable behaviour', claiming the one-time lingerie model was 'argumentative' and 'rude to staff.'

More tellingly though - having initially gone out of his way to deny publicly suggestions that Heather had married him only for his money - he now appears to have changed his mind.

According to friends, Heather's decision to reject his £30m offer for a quick, clean break opens her up to accusations of being a 'gold-digger' who is simply after a bigger slice of his £825m fortune.

In a bid to make sure that doesn't happen, Sir Paul has now hired a team of the country's most feared divorce lawyers, including Fiona Shackleton, who represented Prince Charles in his divorce from Diana, and Nicholas Mostyn, QC, whose success in high-profile divorce cases have earned him the nickname, Mr Payout.

But while Heather has yet to unveil her legal line-up she has made clear her determination to fight him all the way.

It is understood that the animal welfare campaigner - who some claim could be entitled to as much as £200m - is planning to file counter-claims in American and Britain, accusing Sir Paul of being mean and boring.

If the couple - who have a two-year-old daughter Beatrice - cannot reach a private compromise, it would raise the prospect of their marital difficulties being thrashed out in a public court room, including Heather's acrimonious relationship with her step-children.

The breakdown in relations between the couple was underlined this weekend when Sir Paul openly displayed the fact that he was no longer wearing his wedding ring while attending a graduation ceremony at his Liverpool fame academy.

He had been pictured with it on as recently as four weeks ago - prompting speculation that he was hoping for a reconciliation.

That now seems nigh-on impossible.

A close friend of Sir Paul was yesterday quoted as saying: 'Paul is a reasonable guy who doesn't like confrontation.

'In his eyes they agreed they wanted to make the divorce quick and painless and a settlement was virtually in place - but then Heather started getting unreasonable because she wanted more money,' he told the Sunday Mirror.

'It appears she wants as much as she can and she has left her self open to suggestions that she is a "gold digger."

Meanwhile such claims are said to have infuriated 38-year-old Heather.

Sources close to her said there had been no financial offer and that the idea that she was after his money was 'outrageous.'

'Paul has always been tight with his money towards her,' a friend was quoted as saying in the Sunday Mirror. 'She was having to pay the mortgage on their Hove home where she is based until a few months ago.

'She even went on chat shows to raise money to pay staff, people like her secretary. This is likely to form part of her counter-claim.'

The couple first met in 1999 at a charity function, and married three years later in Ireland.

However she will claim that, having courted her assiduously, Sir Paul became 'boring' after their wedding, preferring to stay at his 160-acre estate in Sussex, while she pursued an energetic social life at their St John's Wood home in central London.

The ex-Beatle did not make his young bride sign a pre-nuptial agreement before their wedding because he thought it was unromantic and had little likelihood of being enforced under UK law.

The couple split up in May this year with Sir Paul complaining he was being treated like a 'doormat.'

The day their separation was announced, the singer issued a statement saying there was 'not an ounce of truth' in suggestions that Heather had married him for his money. 'She is a very generous person who spends most of her time trying to help others,' he sad.

But relations between the pair deteriorated dramatically earlier this month after Heather confronted Sir Paul with a tape-recording of a private conversation he had had with his daughter, Stella.

Heather denied having anything to do with the bugging which revealed Stella's dislike of her step-mother.

Meanwhile, Sir Paul was shocked by a string of allegations about his wife's past.

These included claims that she worked as a high-class prostitute servicing wealthy Arab princes - claims she vehemently denies - and the publication of pornographic pictures of her.

A spokesman for Sir Paul yesterday said that reports of a bitter divorce battle were 'pure speculation.'