Heather Mills McCartney is to sue two British newspapers over "false, damaging and immensely upsetting" statements surrounding her divorce from ex-Beatle Paul McCartney, her lawyers said today.
Solicitors Mishcon de Reya named the Daily Mailand the Evening Standardas the subject of legal proceedings. Legal action will also be taken against the Sun.
Mills's legal representatives said she had been vilified in the media and was now being stalked by photographers. They said Mills (38) could not afford to sue all the newspapers she wanted to.
"Her time and resources are not infinite. She cannot sue - for now, at least - every single newspaper that has published false, damaging, and immensely upsetting statements about her.
"She should not thereby be taken to have accepted that these statements are true."
The storm over the McCartneys' increasingly bitter divorce began last Tuesday when legal papers were leaked to the press. The document, apparently prepared by Mishcon de Reya in answer to McCartney's divorce petition, contained allegations that he mistreated his wife during the couple's four-year marriage.
McCartney, through his lawyers, insisted he would "vigorously" defend himself against the claims.
PA