Former Beatle Paul McCartney and animal rights activist Heather Mills have ended their four-year marriage as well as bitter divorce battle with the singer being ordered on Monday to pay his estranged wife nearly $50 million.

Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills married in 2002, taking many by surprise, but professed to be deeply in love with each other. They welcomed daughter Beatrice Milly the following year; she is now 4-years-old.

In May 2006, the couple announced their separation, saying they had “found it increasingly difficult to maintain a normal relationship with constant intrusion into our private lives.”

It was not an easy separation, as Heather Mills, 25 years McCartney’s junior, soon made shocking allegations against her husband. It is all nearing its end though.

McCartney and Mills were both at London's High Court on Monday, where the judge handling the case ordered the veteran singer to pay his estranged wife 24.3 million pounds ($48.7 million).

The charity campaigner spoke outside court, confessing she was both pleased with the result and angry, still, with McCartney, The Times Online reports. Mills said her estranged husband had offered her £15.8 million, while the ruling awarded a total of £16.5 million in cash and £7.8 million in assets.

“The most important thing for me is to get this over and done with,” she added.

She also told reporters that the judge estimated McCartney’s assets to be worth £400 million, although “everyone knows he's worth £800 over the last 15 years,” and criticized “these people” for being “in a club.”

Mills has been constant in her finger pointing and the media has not taken her side. Despite insistently denying allegations that she is a “gold-digger,” it is an appellative she will not easily shed, if ever.  

The 40-year-old said today she would appeal against the decision to make the entire judgment public, in order to protect her daughter. Beatrice is her only child. McCartney has four adult children, including fashion designer Stella McCartney, from his marriage to Linda McCartney.