Despite their increasingly acrimonious split, Paul McCartney and his estranged wife Heather put aside their differences last weekend to celebrate their daughter Beatrice's third birthday.
The birthday girl, who wore a pretty pink dress for her big day, was treated to a party at the Clambers Children's Play Centre in Hastings, East Sussex on Saturday. "Beatrice was happily playing with her mum and dad without a care in the world," said one source. A mixture of 15 adults and children attended the bash at the kids' venue, which provides climbing frames, ball pools and 'Tarzan' ropes for adventure-packed fun.
Heather, 38, and Paul, who were married for four years, were clearly determined to put on a united front for the sake of their little girl and chatted to each other during the 90-minute lunchtime event. They left separately at the end, though, the former Beatle leaving with Bea in a chauffer-driven car and Heather emerging ten minutes later carrying the remains of the birthday cake.
Despite Saturday's truce, the couple's impending divorce battle continues to cause controversy. It recently emerged that Paul's first wife Linda allegedly referred to problems in her 29-year-marriage to the musician during recorded conversations with her friend Peter Cox – who still has the tapes. Peter, who helped Linda write her vegetarian recipes in Linda McCartney's Home Cooking, is expected to be a key witness for Heather.
The 51-year-old literary agent broke his silence to a Sunday newspaper at the weekend and revealed the supposedly golden marriage between Linda, who died of breast cancer in 1998, and Paul was not as rosy as it seemed. "There were moments when Linda would feel deeply unhappy and depressed about her marriage," Peter said.
"In her low moments, the idea of leaving him did cross her mind, but she immediately rejected it. Her family was the most important thing and there was no way she'd give them up. At the low points, she did feel trapped. When I started to learn all this I was a bit dazed because I thought this was Britain's happiest marriage."
Paul has vigorously denied claims that he was violent towards Heather during their marriage and the 19 "Linda Tapes" are understood not to refer to any domestic abuse in his first marriage. Peter, whom he has not spoken to in 18 years, is thought to have assured Paul's lawyers that he will not divulge the tapes' contents. However, such an agreement could be irrelevant if a judge orders the tapes to be heard in court.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
