Heather Mills has decided to drop her "Lady" title and revert to her maiden name after her divorce from Sir Paul McCartney.

The 38-year-old reportedly told friends she would now give up the right to the title, which she has used in public on several occasions, calling it "irrelevant".

The move has been put down to pressure from McCartney's lawyer Fiona Shackleton, who made a similar deal with Princess Diana for Prince Charles.

"She doesn't need a title to bolster her ego," a source told the Daily Mail. "The title does not matter to her. It's completely irrelevant to her life."