Pay me £50m by Friday or I'll see you in court, Heather tells Macca

Heather Mills has given Sir Paul McCartney until Friday to settle their divorce or risk being publicly destroyed by her in court.

Miss Mills wants her estranged husband to agree a £50million settlement by her deadline and has made it clear what will happen if he fails.

She had hoped to resolve the long and acrimonious divorce between the couple, who have a three-year-old daughter called Beatrice, in front of a High Court judge at a Financial Dispute Resolution hearing in London last Thursday.

She left the hearing so 'quietly confident' of a satisfactory result that she told friends 'this is the first day of the rest of my life'.

But when Sir Paul's legal team had still not agreed to the settlement five days later, Miss Mills went on the warpath and issued her ultimatum.

'Heather has demanded that her lawyers contact Paul's legal team to say they have a deadline of Friday,' said a source.

'If they do not come back saying we're in general agreement to the settlement as thrashed out in court last week by then, she will give the green light to slug it out very publicly in court.'

A friend said: 'Heather has been putting the word out - saying very specifically that it is not in Paul's best interest to go to court by reminding him of the cards she is holding.

'She has started making worrying noises about the custody of Beatrice, suggesting she might perhaps take her to America for long periods of time.

'She has been saying that if they go to court, the judge will not pay any interest to what she calls "the catalogue of lies" that have been said about her in the Press.'

'She is saying that if this goes to court, she will get awarded more money, that it will be worst for Beatrice to have her parents publicly warring.

'His legal team has been reminded that Heather could argue that she put him back on track emotionally and with his career after Linda, his first wife, died.

'And perhaps then if she goes to court she should then fight for some of his future earnings. Heather has also been talking again about her personal security and that of Beatrice.

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'She is saying the longer this all drags on and the more public it gets, the more worried she is that she will become public enemy No 1. And greater security for them all is something Paul will have to pay for.'

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The friend added: 'She has also been speaking of there now being unprecedented offers coming in from the U.S. to go on shows like Oprah.

'Paul is getting all this nudging encouragement to do the deal right away. And the longer it has taken for Paul's team to come back to them with a settlement, the more frenzied it has become.

'Her side are now saying that if Paul wants public war, he can have it. But as Heather has pointed out, a lot could come out in court.

'And Paul should remember that after what has been said about her over the years - truth or lie - she does not have much reputation left to defend.

'But she wants him to know that if she is forced into a corner, she could very publicly destroy his reputation.'

Spokesmen for Sir Paul, 65, and 39-year-old Miss Mills, who married in 2002, would not comment on the progress of the divorce last night.

But a source close to Miss Mills said: 'Friday is the cutoff. And Paul must remember that if it goes to court, then that is a whole new ball game. It could all get very messy again very quickly.'