By Paul Majendie

LONDON (Reuters) - Paul McCartney went to court on Monday to find out how much of his Beatles fortune will go to his estranged wife Heather Mills after a bitter and highly publicized divorce battle.


In a hearing that could last all day, Judge Hugh Bennett will hand down his final ruling to the warring couple, hear their reactions and decide what, if any details, of the settlement are to be made public.

McCartney, wearing a dark suit and overcoat, went into court first with his lawyer Fiona Shackleton, who represented heir to the throne Prince Charles in his divorce wrangle with Princess Diana.

Next came Mills, wearing a brown and blue trouser suit. She is representing herself in court after sacking her lawyers.

Asked if she was nervous about the outcome, she remained tight-lipped when confronted by a phalanx of reporters.

McCartney, 65, married former model and charity campaigner Mills, 40, in 2002 but they split four years later, blaming media intrusion into their private lives. They have a daughter, Beatrice, aged four.

McCartney's fortune is believed to total 825 million pounds ($1.6 billion), so the stakes are high in what has become one of the most acrimonious break-ups in British legal history.

Estimates of how much the judge will order McCartney to give Mills vary widely from 25 million pounds, the figure recently favored by some tabloid newspapers, to 200 million pounds.

The couple spent six days in court last month pitching their cases after one of the most high-profile showbusiness splits since Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman broke up.

The row over the divorce settlement between McCartney, a founder of the world's most famous pop group, and the outspoken Mills was fought out under a remorseless media spotlight.

Mills, the target of lurid tales in the press about her colorful past, said she had been driven to the brink of suicide because the media had branded her a "whore" and a "gold-digger."

Court 34 in London's ornate High Court was assigned a full day for the final hearing -- which may still not spell the end of the case.

If either side is dissatisfied with the ruling, they have 21 days to appeal. But the case would then become public, and details of the pop icon's private life could be revealed in open court.

(Editing by Tim Pearce)
© Copyright 2007 Reuters.