Side show

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE. OR NOT: Paul McCartney's side is shouting louder -- in that covert media-manipulation way -- in the game of "Did Paul Ask Heather to Sign a Prenup?"

And what it's shouting is no: The former Beatle is so in love with new wife Heather Mills that he established no financial ground rules in case their union ends up making either of Jennifer Lopez's 10-minute marriages look like examples of longevity.

Considering McCartney's estimated worth is at least in the hundreds of millions -- he says reports that put it at $1-billion are high -- that's quite a gesture.

But the side of fashion-designer daughter Stella McCartney got London's Daily Mail to run a story saying Paul did get Heather to sign a financial deal -- one that limits her to a paltry $29.7-million if they split.

Each side agrees that none of Paul's children -- Stella, an older daughter and a younger son with late wife Linda, and a stepdaughter from a previous relationship of Linda's -- is thrilled with the marriage. The reasons beyond the usual include worries about children Paul and Heather may have cutting into their inheritance.

None of McCartney's spokesmen will talk about a prenuptial agreement.

FENDING OFF CULTURAL EROSION, AT LEAST IN BRITAIN: In a recent poll, more than one-third of 15- to 35-year-olds said they think Shakespeare is still relevant. Though the result could be a little suspect given that the poll was commissioned by British theater's Royal Shakespeare Company.

THE LATEST FROM WEIGHT WATCHERS: A few months ago, former Harper's Bazaar editor Kate Betts fired up the debate on how we judge women's looks with a New York Times piece saying she refused to run a cover photo of Renee Zellweger in her Bridget Jones's Diary phase because Zellweger was "too fat." Then Betts wanted to apologize.

In the magazine's July issue, Betts' successor, Glenda Bailey, runs some of the photos with a little "let me pat myself on the back" paragraph saying she thought Zellweger looked "so healthy, vibrant and beautiful" in those pictures, she wanted to share them.

(In her New York Times piece, which ran in the St. Petersburg Times, Betts wrote of the pictures, "It wasn't as if (Zellweger) was wearing Gwyneth Paltrow's fat suit from Shallow Hal. But that girl-next-door charisma was nowhere to be seen. Even after several thousand dollars' worth of airbrushing, there was no hiding the truth.")

Three of the Bridget Jones-era pictures are in the latest issue with one recent shot of Zellweger. She basically looks the same in each one.

ONE MORE THING: Zellweger also is on the cover of Harper's Bazaar's July issue. But Bailey didn't think enough of the Bridget Jones photos to put one on the cover, either. The photo is of "thin" Renee.

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