18 Days of McCartney Day 16- Children, Children

Children, children, where are you?

Hiding in the forest, playing in the rain

I hope you're not too far away for me to see again

Heather;

Paul, Heather, Linda

Prior to Linda's marriage with Paul McCartney in 1969, she was engaged in a relationship with American geologist, Joseph Melville See Jr, whom she met at the University of Arizona and married on 18 June, 1962. Heather Louise See was born on 31 December, 1962 to the couple in Tuscon, Arizona. When she was six years old her mother and father had separated leaving Linda and Heather to go to New York where Linda pursued her career as a photographer. In 1967 Linda had met Paul McCartney and was soon invited to live with the musician in his St. John's Wood estate. Two years later on 12 March, 1969 Paul and Linda were married and Paul took over as Heather's adoptive father, where you can find her appearances in The Beatles film, Let It Be.

Heather McCartney

Just like her mother and now her adoptive father, Heather was interested in the arts, taking up photography where she won the Young Black and White Printer of the Year Award in Llford for a piece she called "Waterfall".  She went on to pursue her love for art throughout college where she took up pottery and design. 

In the early 1980s Heather was hospitalized after suffering from emotional disorders. On her release she decided to travel through Mexico where she became part of the Huichol and Tarahumara tribes. She moved around a few years later to live with her biological father, Joseph See in Arizona, but after her fathers sudden death on 19 March, 2000, after being found with a self inflicted gunshot wound, Heather moved to England and became a potter. In 1999 she launched her own house-ware products called Heather McCartney Houseware Collection.

 Mary;

Paul and Mary

Mary Anna McCartney was born on 28 August, 1969 in London becoming Paul's first child, in fact she was named after Paul's mother (read about her here).  When Mary was a few years old her parents had formed a group called Wings (read about Wings History here and Wings Tours here) where she would travel with the band as they played various gigs. She would grow up in the McCartney's Sussex estate as well as High Park Farm in Scotland. With her mother being a photographer, Mary is featured in many pictures of Paul on the road or photographic while growing up. Her most famous photograph is featured on McCartney's first solo album, McCartney, where she is seen tucked in her fathers jacket.

Traveling with Wings

Just as her mother she became a photographer and photo editor for Omnibus Press, a music book publisher; In 1992 she then became a professional photographer. Some of Mary's earliest work can be seen at the first official photo of UK Prime Minister Tony Blair with his family, after she had became close friends with Cherie Blair while campaigning for breast cancer awareness, in which Mary is a part of. Since then Mary has photographed Sam Taylor-Wood, Jude Law, Ralph Fienes, her young sister Stella, Paul McCartney, and much more.

In 1995 Mary met television producer and director, Alistair Donald, after being introduced by Mary's younger brother, James. The two dated for three years and arranged to be married for May 1998, due to the sudden death of Linda McCartney the wedding was postponed til 25 September, 1998. The following year on 3 April, 1999 and n the 1 August, 2002 the couple gave birth to Elliot Donald. The family would resign in Lauderdale Mansions South in Maida Vale, London. Unfortunately, in 2005 the couple separated with no public confirmation of divorce but the separation seemed to be permanent in 2007 when she began going back to Mary McCartney instead of Mary McCartney-Donald.

That same year she released her first exhibition with her work of offstage pictures of The Royal Ballet, London capturing the hard everyday lives of the performers calling the exhibit, Off Pointe: A Photographic Study of the Royal Ballet After in Brighton. Following this exhibit shes had several more solo;

Self portrait

1. Off Pointe; A Photographic Study of the Royal Ballet After- 2004, 2005, 2007
2. Playing Dress Up- 2007
3. Backup - 2007
4. British Style Observed - 2008
5. Collective  Works - 2009
6. From Where I Stand - 2010, 2011, 2012
7. Developing - 2013

She went on to have four group shows;

1. Schweppes Photographic Portrait Show- 1995
2. 31 Studio EXPOSED, Platinum Prints - 2004
3. Strength and Beauty Embodied by Avant- Garde Women - 2007
4. Gay Icons - 2009

Mary

After separating from her first husband Mary had begun seeing Simon Aboud, a director whom she would have her third child, Sam Aboud, on 11 August , 2008. The couple had a private ceremony on 12 June, 2010 in London at the Marylebone Register Office. 3 September, 2011 The Aboud family grew bigger with their last addition, Sid.

Mary is active in campaigns to spread cancer awareness, Smile Train ( where she was asked to take photos of four children from Volgograd and Bejing) and she is an animal activist taking a great part in the McCartney's Meat Free Monday. In 2012 she released her own vegan cook book, Food. 

 Stella;
 

Traveling with Wings

Stella Nina McCartney became Paul and Linda's second child on 13 September, 1971 in Lambeth, London being named after Linda McCartney's grandmother. Just like Mary and Heather, Stella became part of the Wings traveling, in fact the name Wings came while Paul was praying while Linda was rushed in to the emergency caesarean section while giving birth to Stella. Paul had sat outside the operating room and prayed for the safety of his wife and child where he prayed for her to be born "on the wings of an angel." with an image of wings in his mind.

With all the riches, Paul wanted his children to lead as normal as a life as they could leading to Stella and her siblings to attend local state schools in East Sussex, where Stella was a victim of bullying. By age thirteen she had designed her first jacket. It was only three years later she became an intern for Christian Lacroix where she began  working on his first fashion design collection. She later studied at Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication, fashion design at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design and graduated from Central St Martins in 1995 where supermodel and friends Naomi Campbell, Yasmin Le Bon, and Kate Moss modeled Stella's graduation collection for free.  The collection became a hit making front- page and being sold in a London boutique called Tokio and would be licensed to Browns, Josephs, Bergdorf Goodman, and even Neiman Marcus. After school  she began her passion for style and fashion starting her first collection. By 1997 she was working as a Creative Director of Chloe in Paris. In 1998 she designed her sister's wedding dress  for Mary's wedding to Alistair Donald.

In 2001 she launched her own fashion house with Gucci Group (now Kering) where she shared her first collection in Paris. Since then she now owns seventeen stores in London Mayfair, Manhattan's Soho, Paris' Palais Royal, LA's West Hollywood, Barcelon's Passeig de Garcia, Milan, Rome, and Miami. Her collections are being sold over fifty countries.

photographed by Linda

Two years later Stella launched her own perfume line calling it Stella. In 2004 her design was shown through a summer tour for Madonna's Re-Invention Tour and Annie Lennonx's tour. She also worked for the film Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow for Gwyneth Paltrow and Jude Law's costumes. Some of her most recent works were when she began working with Adidas having a long-term partnership with the athletic line in September 2004. Adidas by Stella McCartney can be seen in 2010 when she was appointed by Great Britain's Creative Director for the 2012 Olympics, the first time a leading fashion designer has designed clothes for both the Olympic games and Paralympic Games. 2005 she became releasing her products for H&M in hopes of  selling more affordable options to her fans; when the her line with H&M was released  in November 2005 it was sold out immediately. She then launched CARE a 100% organic skincare line in January 2007. In March of the same year she began working in one hundred target stores, primarily in Australia. In 2010 McCartney began working with Disney to create jewlry inspired by Alice in Wonderland. Her work has also been seen in New York City Ballet's Ocean's Kingdom, which is based on an album by her father from 2011.

Stella and British publisher Alasdhair Wills were married at Mount Stuart House on Isle of Bute on 30 August, 2003. The dress she wore was an updated version of her mother's dress worn in 1969. The couple has since had four children, James (2005), Bailey Linda Olwyn (2006), Beckett Robert Lee (2008), and Reiley Dilys Stella (2010).

Stella McCartney

Paul McCartney presented Stella with the Designer of the Year Award by VH1/Vogue in 2000. Three years later she recived the Woman of Courage Award, for her work against cancer.  Best designer of the Year Glamour Award and the Star Honoree at the Fashion Group International Night of the Stars were presented to her in 2004. In 2005 she recieved the Organic Style Woman of the Year Award. The Elle Style Award for Best Designer of the Year and the Best Designer of the Year at the British Style Awards became part of her award collection in 2007. She recieved an Elle Award for Best Designer of the Year in Spain in 2008, that same year she recieved the Green Designer of the year at the ACE Awards. The following year she was honored by NRDC, Glamour magazine Woman of the Year, and featured in the Time100. 2011 she was had recieved the Red Carpet Award by the British Fashion Council. On New Years Honours for service to fashion 2013 she was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). As of February 2013 she became one of the 100 most powerful women in the UK by BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour.

As an animal activist like her parents, her clothing represents that, for example one of her designs for Adidas says "Suitable for sport vegetarians".

James:

photographed by Linda

12 September, 1977 the third McCartney child was born, James Louis named after Paul's father (read about him here) and Linda's Mother, Louise. As said with his older sisters, James would be on the road traveling with The Band on The Run, Wings. While on the road on McCartney's 1989 World Tour, James would have a tutor and would later attend Thomas Peacocke Communite College but started his love for music, surprisingly not because of his father but after seeing Michael J Fox perform in the film Back to the Future, James would later play Paul's Fender Stratocaster, previously owned by the great Carl Perkins, at age nine. The McCartney's had a scare when James was sixteen years old he was surfing with friends and was swept out to sea. The family was called and immediately arrived at the scene where they waited forty minutes for James, who returned on his own.

He would follow his love for music appearing on his fathers 1997 album, Flaming Pie, where he played guitar and drums on a few songs. In 1998 Linda released her own album, Wild Prairie, where James played lead guitar. He is also listed in Paul's 2001 album, Driving Rain as co-writer on certain tracks like "Spinning On An Axis" and "Back In The Sunshine Again".  In 2005 he joined his father on his US Tour.

Jame began recording his own music in 2008 with his father, David Kahne, and various other musicians.  He made his first US debut on 14 November, 2009 at the Fairfield Arts and Convention Center where he performed his own solo material. He released his first EP on 21 September, 2010 with the name Avaliable Light.

James

"The music was inspired by The Beatles, Nirvana, The Cure, PJ Harvey, Radiohead - and all good music. It is basically rock 'n' roll, clean sounding and vocal. The words on the album refer to spirituality, love, family, trying to sort out one's life, and many other things."- James McCartney

 Since then he has toured the UK in February and March 2010 and the US in April, 2013, released his first solo album, Me.

Beatrice;

Beatrice

Beatrice McCartney was born on 28 October, 2003 by McCartney's second wife, Heather Mills. In great respect and trying to keep the innocence of a young girl, Paul has kept Beatrice out of the star light as much as possible.

Deliver your children to the good, good life

Give 'em peace and shelter and a fork and knife

18 Days of McCartney Day 9- Heather Mills

Heather Anne Mills was born on 12 January, 1968 to former soldier, John Mark Francis Mills, and Beatrice Mary Finlay in Aldershot, Hampshire. John Mills comes from Brighton where he lived with his foster parents, who adopted him when he was seven years old. His foster-parents owned a grocery shop and as a second job, his fosters-father was a mechanic for Grand Pix racing team. Beatrice Finlay was born during World War II in India where she was sent to an English boarding school. John would meet Beatrice at Newcastle University.  The couple were a widely interesting in their own rights. Beatrice playing piano and speaking several languages while John played banjo, guitar, won an Evening Standard award for his photography, an athlete, and an animal lover; it's no surprise that their daughter would grow up as an animal-activist.

Heather, her parents, and her two siblings, Shane and Fiona, moved to Northumberland when she was six years old and soon moved to Washington, Tyne and wear, followed by their final move to Cockshott Farm in Rothbury, Northumberland. She attended Usworth Grange Primary school and Uswork Comprehensive school. Her family had started to fall apart when Heather was nine when her mother left the family due to John's abusive behavior. Four years later, when she was thirteen, Heather ran away after behind abused by her father; he later was arrested.After her father was arrested for eighteen months, her and her sister went to live with her mother in Clapham, London while Shane went to live with their grandparents in Birghton.  When Heather was fifteen years old she ran away again to join the funfair, unsuccessful, she lived in a cardboard box under Waterloo Station for four months- her mothers boyfriend, Charles Stapley, denied this saying that she went away for a weekend to see a young man who worked for the funfair.  Her teachers in school would write reports saying "there's no hope for her at all" and she was fired from her job working at a croissant shop with her employer saying, "never to work for anyone else again." In her stories she wrote about a man named Jim Guy, owner of Penrose Jewellers. She said that Jim had given her a job working on Saturdays,

"Everything she wrote about me was lies, I never gave her a job; she just hung around and made tea. She told me her father was dead. the only thing was true was she nicked stuff from the shop." -Jim Guy, from Telegraph

While working her Heather had stolen a few gold chains and would sell them for a moped where she was later put on probation.

She met Alfie Karmal in May of 1989. Karmal, age thirty, encouraged Mills, age twenty, to start modelings. With this idea in mind he bought her new clothes, suggested she get cosmetic surgery, and he had set up his own model agency, ExSell Managemnet. In 1987, she told her husband that she was going to Paris where a cosmetic company offered her a job as a model, it was later found out that she became involved with millionaire, George Kazan, for two years. During this time she had also took part in photo sessions for a German sex education manual called The Joys of Love. On her return home she asked Alfie to marry her where he told her he would marry her on one condition; she stops her compulsive lying. She then came out to say that everyman she has dated asked her to marry her within a week.


While married to Alfie she had experienced two ectopic pregnancies, to take her mind off of things Alfie sent her on vacation in 1990. While on vacation and the start of the Croatian war, Mills lived with ski instructor, Milos Pogacar. With the war begun she set up her own refugee crisis center in London where she helped over twenty people escape. She later said,

"[I] worked on the front line in a war zone in the former Yugoslavia for two years where there were mines everywhere that weren't marked."

Alfie and Heather divorced in 1989 and she was then engaged to a bond dealer of the Industrial Bank of Japan, Raffaele Minocion in 1993. That same year (1993) Heather was walking towards De Vere Gardens and Kensington Road, London while she was struck by a police motorcycle. This resulted in Heather suffering from crushed ribs, punctured lung, and shortening her leg by six inches- a plate was later attached to her pelvis. This lead to her being awarded £200,000 from the police, and would sell her story making an additional £180,000. With that money Heather started the Heather Mills Health Trust, an organization that delivers prosthetic limbs- Mills herself had now taken on a new leg. She then went on to spread her story in her book Out on a Limb and television appearances such as Larry King. During this time period her and Minocion had broke up and she was engaged and married to Marcus Stapleton after dating for sixteen days; broke up. Then she was engaged to Chris Terrill in 1999 but called the wedding off five days before it happend telling the media that Chris was gay, an M16 agent, and he was going to sabotage her.

"I soon realised that Heather had a somewhat elastic relation ship with the truth, which she was able to stretch impressively sometimes."- Chris Terrill, The Daily Telegraph

It was April 1999 when Paul McCartney was at the Dorchester Hotel for a Pride of Britain Awards event to present an award to a fellow animal right activist and an award dedicate to his former wife, Linda. Heather herself was presenting the Outstanding Bravery Award to Helen Smith.  Paul had spoke to Heather after the awards about donating to her charity, later giving her £150,000.  The following fall Paul was found to be singing back up vocals on Heather and her sisters song "Voice", and would later find themselves staying at Paul's home in Peasmarsh, Sussex. The two started seeing each other publicly after been seen together at her 32nd birthday in 2000.

The couple were on holiday in the Lake District when Paul proposed to her on the 23 July 2001 with a £15,000 sapphire diamond from India. About a year later on 11 June, 2002 the couple where married at Castle Leslie in Ireland; it was also the day of Paul's release "Heather". She went onto inspire other ballads such as his "Too Much Rain" and "See Your Sunshine". Eric Clapton, Elton John, Bill Clinton and other big names had attended the wedding. Heather had became the cook of the house, just like Paul, she was a vegetarian herself. Not only did she do the cooking but even gave Paul a fake finger nail for his left finger that would often bleed after playing guitar. 

Within the first year of their marriage Heather had suffered from a miscarriage but by the following year she would be pregnant with the couples first (and only) child, Beatrice Milly McCartney who was born on 28 October, 2003. 

In 2006 the couple had separated, Mills stating that it was due to Paul's daughter Stella. It's not secret that Stella wasn't a fan of her new step-mom and when Heather asked Stella to design a dress for her for their wedding Stella turned her down. Another reason for the divorce could be Heather's need to be publicized making appearances on radio shows, persuading her husband to go on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire on Christmas, Interviews with Larry King and Paul Newman, and her stories to the papers and press. She had decided to get help from her sister and a few attorneys for the divorce hearing that took play in court 34 at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. Prior to the case Mills had stated that Paul was constantly drunk or high and would stab her with a wine glass, then push her over a table and into a bathtub while carrying their child-- non of which is true. She then went on to say how great it was to be married to him and how he would bring her breakfast everyday, even saying

"I will never get over it. I will always love Paul. He is the father of my child, but I just have to move on and deal with it and there is nothing I can do... I have never spoken badly about my husband.  I never will, he is the father of my child."

 At the beginning of the hearing she asked for £125 million;  McCartney came back with an offer of £15.8 million.The hearing took six days with Mills being reward with £24.3 million with additional cost too take care of Beatrice. The judge of the McCartney-Mills case had spoken out on the hearing saying that Heather's evidences was inconsistent and inaccurate.

After the divorce she was picked on by the tabloids saying she was only in it for the money, and she would soon receive death threats. The police had become fed up with Mills saying she relayed too much on 999 Service. She had then related her divorce with Paul to Princess Diana's death, saying she was chased and killed by paparazzi's.

Since then Mill's has done hundreds of interviews and even appeared on Dancing on Ice television series .She had wished to take part in representing Great Britain in the 20134 Paralypic Games but resigned due to complications with her equipment.