It was revealed on Sunday that she had died on Friday in Santa Barbara, California, with Paul at her bedside.

A statement from Paul McCartney's office said the cancer had spread to her liver since she had been receiving treatment which appeared to have worked well.

A family spokesman said: "The blessing was that the end came quickly and she didn't suffer."

She revealed in 1996 she was fighting breast cancer

Two days before her death, she and Paul had been enjoying one of their main passions, horse-riding.

In 1969 millions of girls throughout the world had their hearts broken. Paul McCartney married. But his bride Linda would go on to make her own reputation as a photographer, musician and businesswoman.

Linda Eastman was born in 1942 in New York. Her father was a successful lawyer and Linda was educated at the prestigious Scarsdale High School.

After leaving school, she became a photographer and captured some of the 60s most illustrious rock stars including the Rolling Stones.

On a trip to London in 1967 she photographed the Beatles, fell in love with Paul McCartney, and married him two years later.

Linda McCartney introduced her husband to vegetarianism saying that she did not eat anything with a face.

After the Beatles' split up in 1970 Paul McCartney brought her into his new band, Wings, where she sang and played keyboards.

Her vegetarianism proved a business success. Her own range of food products, launched in the 1990s, made her a millionairess in her own right.