Paul McCartney and his wife are separating

Former Beatle Paul McCartney and his second wife, Heather Mills McCartney, said Wednesday they are separating after nearly four years of marriage, blaming intrusion from the media and insisting their split is amicable.

Rumors of a rift between Mills McCartney and the singer’s children, especially Stella McCartney, have circulated for years. Talk centered around the idea that Mills McCartney, who is nearly half his age, wanted to devote more time to campaigning against land mines and fur.

“Having tried exceptionally hard to make our relationship work given the daily pressures surrounding us, it is with sadness that we have decided to go our separate ways,” a statement from the couple said. “Our parting is amicable, and both of us still care about each other very much.”

McCartney, 63, and Mills, 38, married in June 2002, four years after his first wife, Linda McCartney, died of breast cancer. McCartney and Mills had a daughter, Beatrice, in October 2003.