SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY - MCCARTNEY: 'I DIDN'T TELL LINDA SHE WAS DYING'

SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY's first wife LINDA was unaware her breast cancer was so advanced when she died, because the former BEATLE wanted her to enjoy the time she had left.
The photographer, singer and animal rights activist was diagnosed with the illness in 1995, and she underwent numerous sessions of chemotherapy in a bid to rid her body of the disease.
But when the treatment failed and Linda's hair started to grow back, MCCartney decided not to burden his wife with the full seriousness of her ongoing cancer diagnosis, so she could live her life as she pleased.
Writing in British newspaper The Sunday Times, MCCartney explains, "At the time she knew she was ill, but she'd had chemo and her hair was growing back.
"I'm not actually sure she ever knew she was dying. You have a decision to make as a family as to whether you tell someone and the doctors leave it to you, the immediate family.
"I talked it over with the doctor and he said, `I don't think she would want to know. She is such a strong, forward-thinking lady and such a positive girl that I don't think it would do any good.'"
Linda passed away on 17 April 1998, aged 56, at the family's ranch in Arizona.