Are there any more at home like you, Heather... oh, there are...

Confusing times if you visit Heather Mills' official website, where they've got a little bit of Flash-empowered ranting going on - "Enough Is Enough" bounces across the screen (nothing says "I'm angry" like a spot of low-effort animation). Then, confusingly, the word "continue" appears, meaning you've got the words "Enough is enough - continue" in front of you, like Mark and Lard's "stop... carry on".

Then you get an open letter signed ("written") by Fiona Mills, the sister of the woman who married the man who wrote Pipes Of Peace. Since cooler heads will doubtless prevail and the thing will disappear, this is what she has to say in full:

After eight months of reading disgusting, untrue and hurtful stories about my sister Heather I feel enough is enough and I would like to try and set the record straight. It's impossible to answer every single lie that has been written about her, there are just too many, but over the next few weeks I will try to answer some of them.

The main reason that I am responding is that I am deeply concerned for the safety of my sister and her daughter. They are receiving death threats, not because she is getting a divorce, but because some of the British tabloids decided from day one that they wish to destroy her, create hatred towards her and profit out of doing so. The vicious agenda of these tabloids has resulted in death threats to my family and I want to try to do something. Heather and Beatrice no longer receive the protection that would be afforded to any other member of the McCartney family facing such threats. It is extremely stressful to be informed by the police of a serious risk to your life and then to be followed by strange cars and people that may or may not be paparazzi.

We have been accused of creating publicity stunts and leaking information to get publicity. This is not true and is a ridiculous accusation considering all the publicity is negative. It is not hard to work out where the inaccurate information is coming from. It's impossible to leave the house and do anything without being followed by paparazzi who want a picture of anything Heather does. They have followed her practically everyday for 253 days making it impossible for her to have privacy in her life with her daughter. We have even resorted to having to continuously film this harassment since Heather was assaulted by a member of the paparazzi in early July, in order to have proof in court. None of this would be happening if the newspapers weren't prepared to pay for the photographs. It's pointless trying to set the record straight with the newspapers, they are not interested, it's against their agenda, so this seems to be the only forum for the truth. It's impossible to sue newspapers for every lie they print, we already have three libel cases going on at the moment and there are more to follow.

I don't believe the public are massively interested in reading about this divorce, which is the excuse the tabloids give for their harassment. The public have no choice over what is printed in the newspapers everyday. The tabloids paint a picture that the public hate my sister and yet it is the tabloids themselves that spin the lies in order to influence public opinion.

Heather does not deserve the hatred that the tabloid press have thrown at her. She is just one of many women getting a divorce. She has committed no crime and has been silent throughout but what good has it done? When journalists have an agenda against you and people you don't even know are paid to lie as 'sources' there is very little you can do. Heather's not a gold digger, liar or self-publicist for people to tear apart - she's a human being and a mother who has feelings and cares what her daughter will read in the future and it is deeply hurtful to hear and read all the spiteful things that are said about her.

I guess people can believe what they want, but just give her a break, please, it's not fair that one person should be the subject of so much abuse...I love her and I love my niece, give them a bit of peace..

Fiona Mills
22 January 2007

Well, it's certainly impassioned. And there's something savvy about appealing to the public over the heads of the paparazzi - although having drawn the tabloid's ire for trying to pass herself off as Diana Windsor, it's probably not that wise to try and repackage yourself as being in the same boat as Kate Middleton.

And while Heather may or may not be a gold-digger (although, as we've mentioned before, she could quite easily prove that by saying "I don't want any of your money, Paul") and she may not be a liar - but is anyone going to believe that the woman who kept popping up on Larry King Live isn't a self-publicist? She's a model, after all - it's their job to self--publicise.

So, has this call for the tabloids to stop spinning the story worked?

Erm... no, unsurprisingly. In the Sun this morning, this bit of Fiona's letter:

Heather and Beatrice no longer receive the protection that would be afforded to any other member of the McCartney family facing such threats.

... has turned into:

THE sister of Heather Mills McCartney has accused Sir Paul of risking the safety of daughter Beatrice — claiming he is refusing to pay for a security guard.

music heather mills paul mccartney fiona mills