Sir Paul’s Nancy is in Linda’s mould

It seems Nancy Shevell, the trucking company heiress with whom Sir Paul McCartney spent a romantic weekend in the Hamptons (as reported here), is legally separated from her husband, Bruce Blakeman, and he is not at all fazed by his wife's friendship with the former Beatle. Which means there's even more to gossip about on Long Island this week - for Blakeman, a wealthy lawyer, is therefore now available and is considered quite a catch.

"He is very handsome by all women's standards," said one acquaintance of the couple. "He's got a Richard Gere look about him." Which is more than can be said of Paul.

But what's really getting the chatter going are the similarities between Nancy, 47, and Paul's first wife, Linda, who died in 1998. Both are New York heiresses, and both suffered from cancer, being diagnosed a year apart. Both met Paul after going through a marital break-up. Both went to college in Arizona.

Where they couldn't be more different, however, is in their politics. While Linda, was a peace-loving, vegetarian liberal, Shevell is a serious Republican who eats meat. And where Linda was a photographer who - much to the horror of Paul's fans - played in his band, Nancy is so strait-laced that Paul's children apparently call her "Jackie O".