McCartney separating from second wife

Former Beatle Paul McCartney is separating from his second wife, Heather Mills McCartney.

The couple issued a statement Wednesday, saying they "found it increasingly difficult to maintain a normal relationship with constant intrusion into our private lives."

The statement added that the decision to separate was made "with sadness" and that the parting was "amicable."

British press has speculated for weeks about the demise of the couple's relationship.

McCartney met Mills, a former model and activist, in 1999, a year after McCartney's first wife, photographer Linda McCartney, died from breast cancer.

The couple met at an event for Mills' charity, which provides prosthetic limbs to those who cannot afford them and campaigns against landmines. Mills formed the charity after losing part of her leg in a 1993 motorcycle accident.

The couple married in June 2002. Much was initially made of their age difference: he is 63 and she is 38. The couple had a daughter, Beatrice, in October 2003.

"We hope, for the sake of our baby daughter, that we will be given some space and time to get through this difficult period," the couple said in their statement.

McCartney also has three children from his 29-year marriage to his first wife, Linda: Mary, a photographer; fashion designer Stella and James, a musician. He is also stepfather to Heather, Linda's daughter from a previous marriage.

Prior to their recent woes, the couple made headlines for their protest against the Canadian seal hunt. They observed seal pups in the Gulf of St. Lawrencein March and verbally clashed with Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams on CNN's Larry King Live.

The Sunday Times last estimated McCartney's wealth at $1.5 billion US in its annual list of the U.K.'s richest people.It is also believed that the couple doesnot have a prenuptial agreement, according to an interview they did with Vanity Fair in 2002.

Mills McCartney told the magazine that despite what the tabloids had said, the former Beatle hadn't asked her to sign a prenuptial agreement before their huge wedding even though she had offered to.

"I wanted to prove that I love him for him," she told Vanity Fair.

While some felt McCartney was being suckered by a gold digger, "I'm not stupid," he told the magazine. "Heather's a really nice person, or else I wouldn't be attracted in the least."