Mills: 'I'm hounded for marrying an icon'

Heather Mills has claimed that she is being hounded by the media because she married an icon.

Sir Paul McCartney’s estranged wife also defended her comments in an earlier interview on GMTV when she appeared on ITV1's This Morning.

When presenter Philip Schofield asked her why she was being criticised in the press, she responded: "Because I married an icon. That's it. Because I married an icon and because we split up. But him and Linda didn't split up, she went through the same and then she was revered when she died. Maybe if the death threats came true and I was dead the same thing might happen to me. But do we have to get to that point?"

She also denied that her call for new journalism privacy laws was an attempt to garner public sympathy, saying: "This has got nothing to do with the divorce or money... What I'm saying to you is everything to read in the papers, 99% of it is lies. Think about it sensibly, £100 million, £70 million, £50 million... I'm meant to have settled 20 times, they're ridiculous outrageous figures."

Mills insisted that campaigning for new legislation was the only way she could cope with the negative attention she has received during her high-profile divorce with McCartney. She told Schofield and co-host Fern Britton: "It's the only thing that's going to give me any sanity on why this has happened.

"The only thing I can make sense out of this is maybe it's happening to me because I'm meant to go forward and push this. I spoke to Gordon Brown this morning and he thinks it's a great idea... All paparazzi should be licensed."