McCartney learns life the hard way

LONDON: As a young Beatle, Paul McCartney wondered what it would be like to be 64. On Sunday, he will know. But far from the enduring love he described when, as a teenager, he wrote the Beatles’ classic When I’m Sixty-Four, McCartney finds his life in turmoil after he and second wife Heather Mills decided to separate after a four-year marriage.

The separation is being played out in the full glare of publicity as intense as anything McCartney experienced during his days as a member of the world’s most famous rock group. Mills, 38, has been the subject of a torrent of tabloid allegations about her past life and has pledged to sue one British newspaper.

“One of the worst aspects of going through what Heather and I are currently going through is the malicious spreading of rumours and made-up facts that is happening in some areas of the media,” McCartney said in a recent message on his Web site.

McCartney’s spirits may be at a low ebb but he remains a national institution in Britain and adored by millions of fans around the world. Britain’s Daily Mirror said McCartney’s daughters Stella and Mary planned to celebrate his 64th birthday by throwing a barbecue for close friends and family on Sunday.