SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY - MILLS' PEERAGE CLAIMS

SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY's estranged wife HEATHER MILLS once boasted to a journalist she was to be awarded a peerage by former British Prime Minister TONY BLAIR. The former glamour model made the claims to reporter Jasper Gerard of British newspaper the Sunday Times back in 2001, prior to her marriage to the former Beatle. Speaking in a new documentary about Mills' life, Gerard reveals that the 40-year-old insisted Tony Blair, who left office last year (07), had personally lined her up to receive the honour, which is normally reserved for important public figures. Gerard goes on to claim that Mills declared she was undecided about whether to accept the peerage and become Baroness Mills because it was "a bit odd". He says, "I was pretty gobsmacked that somebody who was essentially just a model and a bit of a part-time campaigner best known for being Paul MCCartney's girlfriend should be offered a peerage. "I kept waiting for her to smile and say, 'I'm joking' but actually no, she really did mean it." Mills - who gained the title of Lady MCCartney when she married the music legend in 2002 - faced a barrage of criticism last week (ends21Mar08) after the judge overseeing her divorce battle with MCCartney accused her of indulging in "make-belief". The couple split in May 2006 and have a four-year-old daughter, Beatrice.