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LONDON, Sep 13 (Reuters) For Paul and Heather McCartney, the words of the Beatles song ''We Can Work It Out'' ring hollow.

Their divorce has turned into a battle for sympathy fought out under a glaring media spotlight.

''She is on the attack and he is on the defence,'' public relations supremo Max Clifford told Reuters yesterday. ''He is the one trying to settle as quietly and quickly as possible.'' ''He doesn't want his dirty washing aired in public and she knows that. The more that appears in the papers about her being locked out of the house and the bank accounts frozen, the more embarrassed he becomes and the more pressure he is under.'' In an echo of the bitter fight between Prince Charles and Princess Diana, they even hired the lawyers who represented the heir to the throne and his late wife.

The stakes are high.

McCartney could lose up to a quarter of his estimated 825 million pound ($1.55 billion) fortune. That would equate to roughly a million pounds for every week of their four-year marriage.

With tabloids peppered with tales of the break-up, publicists, paparazzi and lawyers all agree -- it has turned nasty.

McCartney, 64, and former model Heather Mills, 38, announced their separation in May, blaming media intrusion for the collapse of one of the most high-profile celebrity marriages.

At first the pair insisted the break-up would be amicable for the sake of their daughter Beatrice, who will be three next month.

But since then, Mills has found that divorcing a national icon can turn everyone against you.

Lurid allegations about her past littered the tabloid press.

She hit back with stories about being locked out of the family home in a bid to win sympathy as the wronged party.

Caroline Kean, media lawyer at the London firm Wiggin said: ''It is getting more and more acrimonious by the day. I suspect there will be a quiet settlement at some point. There cannot be anything positive for either of them carrying on this way.'' But, like the break-up of Diana's marriage, the McCartney split sells newspapers and celebrity magazines and one leading photo agency saw little sign of the appetite waning.

''This is going to go on right through to the divorce settlement.

Editors will be swayed by the interest in it ,'' said Alan Williams, chief executive officer of Big Pictures.

''She is well aware of the power of publicity.'' Reuters DPM GC1016