Paul McCartney’s 8 Grandchildren: Everything to Know

Paul McCartney can’t help but sing the praises of his eight grandchildren, or “chillers,” as he calls them.

The Beatles legend is known as “Grandude” to his grandkids, who include daughter Stella McCartney’s four children and daughter Mary McCartney’s four sons. “One of my grandkids — who used to call me ‘Grandad’ — just happened one day to say ‘Grandude’ and it kind of stuck,” McCartney told the BBC in 2019. “So the other kids started calling me ‘Grandude.’ ”

McCartney has written two picture books, Hey Grandude! and Grandude’s Green Submarine. Both were inspired by his grandchildren, with whom he enjoys dancing, making music and watching soccer.

“I’m really happy with how Hey Grandude! was received, as this was a very personal story for me, celebrating Grandudes everywhere and their relationships and adventures with their grandchildren,” he told PEOPLE in a statement. “I love that it has become a book read to grandkids at bedtime all around the world.”

The “Maybe I’m Amazed” singer is also proud to have a “pretty normal” relationship with his grandchildren.

“You know, I love them and I love being a granddad. And we spend quite a good bit of time together,” he shared on Virgin Radio’s Chris Evans Breakfast Show with Sky in 2019. “We don’t live near each other, but we go on holiday together, like Christmas. And in the summer we’ll see each other. And then sometimes me and Nancy pick them up from school. So that’s nice.”

He continued: “It’s great fun, you know, because you don’t know how to do it like parenting. It’s ad-lib, it’s the biggest ad-lib. So when grandparenthood comes around, it’s like, ‘Okay, what do we do here?’ And so I say the joy is like picking them up at school and they love it. I don’t think it’s just us, I think it’s the ice cream that’s got something to do with it!”

Though the McCartney family is one of the most famous clans in the world, Stella hopes her kids grow up level-headed.

“I lived on a farm, but I went on tour and I knew crazy famous people, like crazy. And for my children, it’s not dissimilar, they go to the farm and they’re in the field getting muddy and falling over, and then they come here and they’re surrounded by crazy famous people,” she told Porter magazine in 2016. “I worry about that. But I think I turned out okay-ish, and I hope that they will be okay.”

The fashion designer also told the outlet that her kids had “a great relationship” with their grandfather. “I love seeing them with Grandpa, or Grandude as they call him,” she said. “They’re real proud of him and they get excited by [his music].”

Here is everything to know about Paul McCartney’s eight grandchildren: Arthur, Elliot, Miller, Beckett, Bailey, Sam, Reiley and Sid.

Arthur Alistair Donald, 25

The oldest of the music icon’s grandchildren, Arthur Alistair Donald, was born in England on April 3, 1999. He is the eldest son of Mary and her ex-husband, TV producer Alistair Donald.

Arthur attended University College School in north London before heading stateside to study history at Yale University. He graduated in 2021. Arthur is an investor at the Collaborative Fund and previously interned at Lucasfilm and worked as an analyst at Beehouse and Goldman Sachs. He has no public social media presence.

In 2018, rumors sparked that he was dating Ava Phillippe, daughter of Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe, after they were photographed out together in London, as seen in Vanity Fair. Both were in town to support family projects, with Arthur joining his mother and grandfather at an exhibition for My Generation, while Phillippe attended the London premiere of her mom’s movie, A Wrinkle in Time.

That same year, Arthur was spotted attending Wimbledon with his mom, supporting his aunt at the opening of the Stella McCartney flagship store in London and celebrating McCartney’s birthday at a French restaurant in London’s Mayfair neighborhood.

In June 2024, Phoebe Gates, the daughter of Bill and Melinda Gates, confirmed she was dating Arthur when she referred to him as “my boyfriend” in her college graduation diary for Nylon.

Elliot Donald, 21

Elliot Donald was born in 2002, five years before his parents, Mary and Alistair, divorced in 2007. His mother has tried to emulate the “as normal as possible” upbringing she had with Elliot and his brothers.

“I send them to schools that I think will challenge them and where they will learn, but also local so that they feel that their London is the area they live in, rather than having to travel miles away. I try and keep an eye out for them and check in with them,” Mary told journalist Alain Elkann of her kids in 2020.

Like his older brother, Elliot attended University College School. He graduated in 2020 before heading to New York University.

Elliot also keeps a low profile. “My whole family is artistic and has a creative eye, but none of them has a career yet,” Mary told Elkann. “I have to be very careful with them about social media because I don’t think any kids should Instagram the location they’re in or pictures of their school uniform. There should be privacy.”

Miller Alasdhair James Willis, 19

Stella and her husband, designer and former magazine publisher Alasdhair Willis, welcomed their first child, son Miller Alasdhair James Willis, on Feb. 25, 2005, in London. He weighed 7 lbs., 7 oz. “Both mother and father are thrilled with the news,” the couple’s rep told PEOPLE at the time.

Miller — whose second middle name is in honor of his great-grandfather, James Paul McCartney, and his uncle, James Louis McCartney — was born just days before Stella was set to show her 2006 collection in Paris. Though she was not “physically present to take a bow,” the show went on as scheduled, as she had “worked on and was able to complete the collection before giving birth,” her rep said.

After giving birth to Miller, Stella set ground rules for herself for how much time she’d spend away from home.

“I had a four-day rule when I first had Miller and then it slowly went to three days and two days,” the designer told Interview in 2012. “I get really agitated when I’m away from the kids for too long. I’m excited to have gotten to where I can take the kids with me now sometimes.”

Miller dipped his toes in the fashion world at a young age — when he was 4, he drew monsters and superheroes for T-shirts in Stella’s 2009 GapKids collection, according to W Magazine.

Stella’s kids do not appear to have public social media accounts, but Miller did get a shout-out from his mom for his 12th birthday in 2017. “You are everything to me,” she wrote on Instagram. Miller also hasn’t made many public appearances, but he was spotted with his parents at a UEFA Champions League football match in London in March 2015.

Bailey Linda Olwyn Willis, 17

McCartney’s fourth grandchild, Bailey Linda Olwyn Willis, is the second child and first daughter welcomed by Stella and Alasdhair. Bailey was born in London on Dec. 8, 2006, weighing 7 lbs., 14 oz. One of her middle names honors Stella’s late mother, Linda McCartney, who died of breast cancer in 1998.

Like her siblings, Bailey attends school in London. Stella has said she is a hands-on mom with all four kids. “I try to spend as much time with my kids as possible,” she told Purple Dragon. “I take them to school every morning, I do four different drop-offs. I have unconditional love for my kids, and they know I’m there.”

She also told the outlet that she tries to involve her kids in her professional life to “make it a bit of a family process,” adding that her kids “love wearing the clothes” she designs.

Beckett Robert Lee Willis, 16

Stella and Alasdhair’s third child, son Beckett Robert Lee Willis, was born on Jan. 8, 2008, in London. Beckett is the grandson who helped McCartney earn the moniker “Grandude.”

“One of them, who shall remain nameless — Beckett — he just one day said, ‘Hey, Grandude.’ He started calling me Grandude,” the singer shared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in 2019. “So I thought that’s a great idea, and so I started writing some stories.”

During the interview, the former Beatle also showed off his cell phone case, which featured a picture of him with all eight of his grandchildren.

Sam Aboud, 16

In March 2008, news spread that Mary and her then-boyfriend, filmmaker Simon Aboud, were expecting their first child together. They welcomed their son Sam Aboud on Aug. 11, 2008.

Simon gave his “beautiful boy Sam” a sweet tribute in honor of his son’s 13th birthday. “I wish we could go back to Superman outfits but I love the journey you’re on,” he wrote on Instagram.

Both Sam and his little brother, Sid, play soccer. Their dad shared a sweet snap of the pair rocking their jerseys in 2018 and another photo of Sam’s player of the week trophy in 2015. And while there’s no word on if Sam will follow his grandfather’s musical path, in 2015, Simon shared a video of a then-7-year-old Sam playing piano.

Mary likes to keep her four sons out of the spotlight, but she’s not shy about being affectionate with her family.

“​​I love kissing. I love kissing my husband, I love kissing my kids, I love kissing my horse,” she told The Guardian in 2022.

Reiley Dilys Stella Willis, 14

In June 2010, a rep for Stella confirmed to Women’s Wear Daily that she and husband Alasdhair were expecting their fourth child. The pair welcomed daughter Reiley Dilys Stella Willis on Nov. 23, 2010, in London. Reiley weighed 8 lbs. and was born the same month that Stella launched her label’s first childrenswear collection.

“My kids ​are pretty head-to-toe in my stuff,” Stella told The Seattle Times in 2016. “But they haven’t got a choice because they don’t make a wage yet. Until they make their own money, they are wearing my clothes whether they like it or not.”

Reiley’s mom is a sustainability activist who had a laugh when the Telegraph discussed overpopulation with her in 2021. “Oh God, well I’ve got four children, so you can’t ask me that,” she said. “That wasn’t very sustainable of me. … But I’m hoping that my children will do good and change the planet.”

It seems like the four McCartney-Willis kids are already on an environmentally and socially conscious track. “I’m very, very green so it’s hard for the children to teach me much yet. But they’re still young,” she told the outlet. “What I like is that for them it’s all obvious: Of course women should have equal rights, of course Black people should have equal rights, of course transgender people should live freely.”

Though all four of her kids stay out of the public eye, Stella shared with Interview that her favorite place to be is “in a field on a horse, with my kids on little horses behind me.” Weekends are often spent at the McCartney-Willis farm in Wiltshire, England, where they ride their horses and tend to a garden and sheep.

Sid Aboud, 13

Mary tied the knot with Simon in 2010. They welcomed their second child and Mary’s fourth son, Sid Aboud, on Sept. 3, 2011.

Simon often shares photos of his sons on Instagram, especially in honor of their birthdays, though he’s always careful to conceal their faces. McCartney’s youngest grandchild is almost always rocking a soccer jersey in his pics, either from one of his own teams or that of Liverpool F.C. He’s also already taking after his grandfather by jamming on the guitar, too.

Simon wished his younger son a happy 9th birthday on social media in 2019. “Our beautiful boy who continues to make us laugh,” he wrote. “You are the best distraction you crazy cat.” The year prior, the proud dad also shared a sweet black-and-white throwback photo, taken by Mary when Sid was about 3, writing that Sid “just fills up the frame with his ‘Sid’ energy. Glad to say nothing’s changed.”