McCartney Pressed in U.K., Probed in Germany

As Paul McCartney took to the pages of one British newspaper to claim he doesn't read news accounts of his private life, rival publications were running with the salacious story of a woman who claimed to be the rock icon's illegitimate offspring.

Such is a day in the life of the ex-Beatle.

On Saturday, McCartney granted a Q&A with the Guardian, where he addressed the requisite question about the intense interest—especially in the United Kingdom—surrounding his divorce from Heather Mills.

"There's only one really one answer to the problem of massive press coverage—don't look," he told the newspaper. "So I don't read it. It comes to me occasionally, it leaks through the cracks—people say to me, 'Oh, I'm sorry about that, mate,' and you're thinking, 'About what?'

"I know there's all sorts of s--t going on, but if I don't look at it, then it's better. It's like going through Disneyland and not looking."

Still, the 64-year-old artist said that, despite all outward appearances, some good did come from his ill-fated second marriage.

"The great thing that everyone says is you want to look at the positive that's come out of it, and the real positive is my beautiful baby daughter. Both parents know that that is something great that came out of our marriage, even though the marriage didn't work out. I don't want to say any more than that in order to keep some dignity about the situation."

In fact it may be McCartney and Mills' three-year-old daughter, Beatrice, who helps bring a dignified end to the duo's hitherto ignoble legal battle.

Over the weekend, McCartney, Mills and Beatrice met for 10 minutes at a North London restaurant and, most shockingly of all, were photographed smiling in each other's presence. The brief summit sparked reports that the ex couple have brokered a truce for their daughter's sake and that the end of their bitter legal feud may be nigh—something McCartney hinted at to the paper.

"There is a tunnel and there is a light and I will get there, and meantime I really enjoy my work and my family. I see people worse off than me, so I can put it in perspective. There's a thing we always used to quote in the '60s when things were rough: 'I walked down a street and I cried because I had no shoes, then I saw a man with no feet.'...That is one of the lines I live by."

The musician, who has three adult children,Mary, Stella and James, from his first marriage to the late Linda McCartney, stands to lose an estimated $200 million of his $1.4 billion fortune in the divorce, according to London's Sunday Times.

"I'm going through great struggles, but I'm feeling pretty good," he said. "I have a lot of good support, particularly from my family. In difficult moments like this, it's when a loving family shines through...We're pretty close, anyway, but when you go into something difficult, it does actually bring you closer together."

Like it or not, even more family bonding may be in McCartney's future.

On Friday, Berlin public prosecutor's office spokesman Michael Grunwald confirmed reports that a preliminary probe had been launched into claims that McCartney faked a paternity test more than two decades ago.

"I can confirm that there is an investigation against Paul McCartney on possible charges of fraud," Grunwald told the Times of London.

The investigation stems from long-standing allegations by 46-year-old Berlin resident Bettina Huebers that she is the illegitimate daughter of the former Wings man. McCartney, on the flip side, has always denied her claims.

She first filed a suit in the 1980s, and a Berlin court ordered McCartney to submit to a blood test to determine whether he was in fact her father. In 1983, the test came back negative and the German court dismissed Huebers' complaint.

However, Huebers, who at one point changed her name to Tina McCartney and attempted, unsuccessfully, to launch a music career, claims that the ex-Beatle sent a double to take the blood test and claims that the signature on the documents signed the day of the test prove it.

"The signature in the old documents is false," she told Germany's Bild Zeitung newspaper. "We have found the signature is from a right-handed person, but Paul is left-handed."

Huebers claims her mother, Erika, carried on an affair with McCartney from 1959 to 1962 and that after their split, McCartney paid her about $5,000.

"Why would he do that if he supposedly isn't the father?"

McCartney has not denied that he paid the sum back in 1966, but claims he only did so because German authorities threatened to stop the Beatles from touring in the country until Erika's legal dispute was settled. Despite making the payment, McCartney did not admit paternity.

Grunwald, meanwhile, stressed that the prosecution's investigation was routine and not the result of any new evidence against McCartney. "Anyone can bring a case against anyone else," he said.

McCartney releases his next album, Memory Almost Full , June 5. Just in case, he better hold off on that German tour.