A Hard Day’s Knight

Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills seem to be singing "We Can Work It Out" and trying to avoid a bitter and very public High Court divorce battle.

Media reports on both sides of the Atlantic are pitching the proposed settlement at about £28 million (US$ 54.1 million), although U.K.’s The Sun reported Mills – or "Mucca" as it prefers to call her – will also get the couple’s £4 million London home and a weekly income close to £70,000 per week.

The Sun story also had quotes from the usual "close friends" who are saying the former Beatle is "distraught" because Mills is also said to be offering a "high speed" and presumably low-profile divorce – along with joint custody of daughter Beatrice – for a total cash pay-off of about £40 million.

The anonymous friends say Macca is worth "considerably less" than the £825 million fortune the Sunday Times’ "Rich List" says he’s supposed to have.

America’s ABC News is still holding out some hope for a protracted and messy court battle, speculating that McCartney, rather than fearing a media frenzy, may decide to tough it out and try to prove to the court (and the press) that he’s the "better person."

"Her PR machinery has not worked well, and she knows it," divorce lawyer Vanessa Lloyd-Platt told the U.S. news service, generally reflecting the views of the U.K.’s tabloids.

Leaked divorce papers showed Mills’ astonishing claims that Sir Paul – who received his knighthood in 1997 – poured wine over her, stabbed her arm with a broken wine glass, shoved her violently into a bath when she was pregnant and pushed her over a coffee table.

The former Beatle and the former model announced they were to separate in May last year after four years of marriage.