In the spotlight – Heather Mills McCartney

Topless photographs, spanking photographs and lurid allegations: even the attention-seeking Heather Mills McCartney might now be forced to conclude that there really is such a thing as bad publicity.

The Sun recently published topless photographs of a young Mills McCartney. She has announced that she will take legal action against the News of the World about claims she described as ‘‘vicious and untrue’’ and ‘‘highly defamatory’’ once her divorce from Sir Paul McCartney, 63, has been finalised.

The Guardian pointed out that ‘‘PR professionals said newspapers had been waiting for the pair to split before unleashing negative stories that they had been ...