Pop megastar Madonna and her film director husband Guy Ritchie are to divorce, a newspaper reported on Wednesday, saying an announcement was imminent.
After months of media speculation about strains in the eight-year marriage, The Sun tabloid cited a "highly-placed source" as saying the split was being pushed for by 40-year-old Ritchie.
"It's very sad. They were a great couple and brilliant parents. They just couldn't live together any more," said the source, adding that they "can't bear to live with the pretence any longer".
The American singer's spokeswoman Barbara Charone told AFP: "We're not going to know anything until the US wakes up", adding that she was not even clear if there would be an announcement at that stage.
Madonna, who is in the middle of her "Sticky and Sweet" world tour, married Ritchie in December 2000 in a lavish ceremony at a Scottish castle after meeting at a dinner party given by rock star Sting.
The couple have an eight-year-old son, Rocco, and a three-year-old son adopted in Malawi, David Banda. Madonna also has a 12-year-old daughter called Lourdes by her former fitness trainer Carlos Leon.
In July, Madonna, 50, took the rare step of issuing a formal denial of reports linking her to US baseball star Alex Rodriguez, adding in a statement: "My husband and I are not planning on getting a divorce."
But according to The Sun, Ritchie -- famous for gangster films including "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" -- has become frustrated, seeing her as a "dead weight around his neck" and now wants a divorce to be agreed quickly.
"Guy's said if they were going to split, it has to be now -- and their marriage will finally be over in a matter of weeks," the source told The Sun.
The newspaper said that a statement "confirming their marriage is over has been prepared and is set to be released imminently."
Madonna's mother-in-law, Ritchie's mother Lady Amber Leighton, made no comment to reporters who gathered outside her west London home, saying: "We are not talking to press and we won't be all day."
The singer was believed to be in Boston, according to the schedule of her world tour which includes dates in the United States and Canada over the next few weeks. Her next stop is Toronto on Saturday.
Top celebrity publicist Max Clifford said that marriages between two high-profile people were bound to have strains.
"It's always difficult for two people very much in the public spotlight, that have succesful careers, to also have a successful relationship," he told Sky News television.
"It's almost a conflict because of the demands of the business, the demands of the career... you can only see potential clashes along the way and possibly that's what's been happening," he added.
Madonna, born Madonna Louise Ciccone, was previously married to US actor Sean Penn, from 1985 to 1989.
In July, Madonna's estranged brother said he believed she was committed to her marriage to Ritchie.
"She's not the kind of person just to walk away," Christopher Ciccone told US television, adding that the pop legend will "do what's best for her family and her kids.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
More on the MADONNA GUY RITCHIE DIVORCE
British newspapers are reporting that pop megastar Madonna, 50, and her husband Guy Ritchie, 40, are splitting up and have plans to divorce before the end of the year.
UK's The Sun, citing an unnamed source, says that the couple is splitsville because they can no longer live together. The paper also says the pair plans to finalize their divorce before Christmas.
"Despite huge attempts to patch things up they both knew deep down that divorce was on the cards," the source tells the publication. "It wasn't a matter of 'if' but 'when.' They tried hard over the last few months but their fighting was getting out of control."
Meanwhile, The Daily Mail is also reporting that the divorce announcement is "imminent."
Madonna and Ritchie married nearly eight years ago. The two have three children -- 12-year-old daughter Lourdes, born to Madonna from a previous relationship, and sons Rocco, 8, and David, 2.
Madonna is currently on her "Sticky & Sweet" tour, and recently arrived solo to the star-studded screening of her directorial debut in the new film 'Filth and Wisdom.'
UK's The Sun, citing an unnamed source, says that the couple is splitsville because they can no longer live together. The paper also says the pair plans to finalize their divorce before Christmas.
"Despite huge attempts to patch things up they both knew deep down that divorce was on the cards," the source tells the publication. "It wasn't a matter of 'if' but 'when.' They tried hard over the last few months but their fighting was getting out of control."
Meanwhile, The Daily Mail is also reporting that the divorce announcement is "imminent."
Madonna and Ritchie married nearly eight years ago. The two have three children -- 12-year-old daughter Lourdes, born to Madonna from a previous relationship, and sons Rocco, 8, and David, 2.
Madonna is currently on her "Sticky & Sweet" tour, and recently arrived solo to the star-studded screening of her directorial debut in the new film 'Filth and Wisdom.'
MADONNA AND GUY RITCHIE DIVORCE- Who gets What
Madonna may think twice about filing for divorce in England, as a string of high profile have settlements won London the reputation of being the divorce capital of the world - for the poorer partner in a marriage.
The pop singer is reported not to have signed a pre-nuptial agreement with Guy Ritchie, which might have helped to limit his ultimate payout.
Faced with judgements such as the £48m award to Beverley Charman from her insurance magnate husband John's £161m fortune in 2006, Madonna might decide she can hang on to more of the couple's reported £300m fortune by filing in the US, where awards to partners are generally lower.
"New York might be a better place in terms of what she might have to pay out," said Elizabeth Baghurst, associate at Boodle Hatfield in Oxford.
"For someone like Madonna, who is very wealthy, the UK is not at the present time thought to be a good place to have your divorce, as the payouts are big.
"She would have to meet the residency requirements to fall under New York jurisdiction, but she has a home there (a £2m apartment overlooking Central Park)."
If Guy Ritchie tried to file for divorce in London, the ensuing battle over jurisdiction could make the divorce drag on for over a year - a far cry from Madonna's reported desire to have the whole matter done and dusted by Christmas. But trying to conclude a divorce in eight weeks was always going to be a tall order.
"Even if you have reached an agreement about everything, to get a divorce by Christmas is pushing it," says Ms Baghurst. "The normal duration is 12-16 weeks, to give time to serve papers within set time limits and to obtain a timeslot at court."
Assuming the couple can't agree and the case does go ahead at the High Court in London, the quantum - exactly how much each side could expect to walk away with - would be decided by legal argument over the so-called Section 25 factors listed in the 1973 Matrimonial Causes Act, says Elizabeth Hicks, head of family law at Irwin Mitchell in London.
The process starts with each partner disclosing to the court everything they own and earn - a point of controversy in Heather Mills' divorce from Sir Paul McCartney, when she claimed his fortune topped £800m but the court put it at £400m.
Wealth and property which predate the relationship are usually treated differently from wealth built up during the marriage, where courts may consider a more equal split, says Ms Hicks.
The Section 25 factors affecting the division include the length of the marriage, the standards of living that both parties have got used to, their respective ages, their earning capacities, past and present and even future income, and whether either has placed their career on hold to help the other - possibly a sore point with RItchie, whose film directing career has languished during the marriage, and is only now starting to revive.
After time spent living together and eight years of marriage, the court would be unlikely to reduce Ritchie's payout because the couple's relationship was a short one - unlike Mills's four year marriage to Sir Paul, which ended with a £24.3m settlement.
Conduct is not normally taken into account unless it involves attempted murder or serious financial wrongdoing, so rumours linking Madonna's name with US basketball star Alex 'A-Rod' Rodriguez would probably play no part.
Madonna and Ritchie are reported to have fallen out over their children, with the singer keen to adopt a second child from Africa and the film director opposed. Ritchie is also said to be unhappy that Lourdes, 12, Rocco, 8, and David, 2, are being uprooted by Madonna's international lifestyle.
The family division of the High Court would only agree to rule on the children's future if the couple were unable to agree, and it would base any ruling on the best interests of the children.
Lourdes' reported desire to see more of her natural father, fitness trainer Carlos Leon who is allegedly staying in one of Madonna's New York flats at present, might be taken into account, although Hicks says that lawyers and courts will always urge a divorcing couple to keep as much continuity in children's lives as possible, with their holidays divided between two parents.
Hicks urged the warring couple to try to settle out of court by using collaborative law, a process imported from the US where each takes their own lawyer into mediation sessions, and where the lawyers are sacked if they fail to help their clients reach agreement. She added that a repeat of the Mills-McCartney divorce bloodbath was unlikely.
"I would have thought that because of who they are, they would just split the capital, and he would walk away from it and she would walk away from it," said Ms Hicks. "He wasn't penniless before the marriage."
Ms Baghurst put a settlement of £50m for RItchie as within the bounds of possibility, but Ms Hicks said that, with all the variables, a figure was too difficult to call.
Ayesha Vardag of Ayesha Vardag Solicitors says a Ritchie and Madonna divorce could dwarf the figures involved in the Mills-McCartney break-up.
“While clearly Madonna has been the bigger hitter, arguably Guy Ritchie has had to take a back seat in his own career in order to back her up and support the family emotionally during her demanding work”, Vardag says.
“The law doesn’t discriminate between breadwinner and home maker - it doesn’t in most circumstances matter who earned the money if they were married and therefore a team. One way or another, this divorce should result in a huge payout for Guy Ritchie if properly handled.”
The pop singer is reported not to have signed a pre-nuptial agreement with Guy Ritchie, which might have helped to limit his ultimate payout.
Faced with judgements such as the £48m award to Beverley Charman from her insurance magnate husband John's £161m fortune in 2006, Madonna might decide she can hang on to more of the couple's reported £300m fortune by filing in the US, where awards to partners are generally lower.
"New York might be a better place in terms of what she might have to pay out," said Elizabeth Baghurst, associate at Boodle Hatfield in Oxford.
"For someone like Madonna, who is very wealthy, the UK is not at the present time thought to be a good place to have your divorce, as the payouts are big.
"She would have to meet the residency requirements to fall under New York jurisdiction, but she has a home there (a £2m apartment overlooking Central Park)."
If Guy Ritchie tried to file for divorce in London, the ensuing battle over jurisdiction could make the divorce drag on for over a year - a far cry from Madonna's reported desire to have the whole matter done and dusted by Christmas. But trying to conclude a divorce in eight weeks was always going to be a tall order.
"Even if you have reached an agreement about everything, to get a divorce by Christmas is pushing it," says Ms Baghurst. "The normal duration is 12-16 weeks, to give time to serve papers within set time limits and to obtain a timeslot at court."
Assuming the couple can't agree and the case does go ahead at the High Court in London, the quantum - exactly how much each side could expect to walk away with - would be decided by legal argument over the so-called Section 25 factors listed in the 1973 Matrimonial Causes Act, says Elizabeth Hicks, head of family law at Irwin Mitchell in London.
The process starts with each partner disclosing to the court everything they own and earn - a point of controversy in Heather Mills' divorce from Sir Paul McCartney, when she claimed his fortune topped £800m but the court put it at £400m.
Wealth and property which predate the relationship are usually treated differently from wealth built up during the marriage, where courts may consider a more equal split, says Ms Hicks.
The Section 25 factors affecting the division include the length of the marriage, the standards of living that both parties have got used to, their respective ages, their earning capacities, past and present and even future income, and whether either has placed their career on hold to help the other - possibly a sore point with RItchie, whose film directing career has languished during the marriage, and is only now starting to revive.
After time spent living together and eight years of marriage, the court would be unlikely to reduce Ritchie's payout because the couple's relationship was a short one - unlike Mills's four year marriage to Sir Paul, which ended with a £24.3m settlement.
Conduct is not normally taken into account unless it involves attempted murder or serious financial wrongdoing, so rumours linking Madonna's name with US basketball star Alex 'A-Rod' Rodriguez would probably play no part.
Madonna and Ritchie are reported to have fallen out over their children, with the singer keen to adopt a second child from Africa and the film director opposed. Ritchie is also said to be unhappy that Lourdes, 12, Rocco, 8, and David, 2, are being uprooted by Madonna's international lifestyle.
The family division of the High Court would only agree to rule on the children's future if the couple were unable to agree, and it would base any ruling on the best interests of the children.
Lourdes' reported desire to see more of her natural father, fitness trainer Carlos Leon who is allegedly staying in one of Madonna's New York flats at present, might be taken into account, although Hicks says that lawyers and courts will always urge a divorcing couple to keep as much continuity in children's lives as possible, with their holidays divided between two parents.
Hicks urged the warring couple to try to settle out of court by using collaborative law, a process imported from the US where each takes their own lawyer into mediation sessions, and where the lawyers are sacked if they fail to help their clients reach agreement. She added that a repeat of the Mills-McCartney divorce bloodbath was unlikely.
"I would have thought that because of who they are, they would just split the capital, and he would walk away from it and she would walk away from it," said Ms Hicks. "He wasn't penniless before the marriage."
Ms Baghurst put a settlement of £50m for RItchie as within the bounds of possibility, but Ms Hicks said that, with all the variables, a figure was too difficult to call.
Ayesha Vardag of Ayesha Vardag Solicitors says a Ritchie and Madonna divorce could dwarf the figures involved in the Mills-McCartney break-up.
“While clearly Madonna has been the bigger hitter, arguably Guy Ritchie has had to take a back seat in his own career in order to back her up and support the family emotionally during her demanding work”, Vardag says.
“The law doesn’t discriminate between breadwinner and home maker - it doesn’t in most circumstances matter who earned the money if they were married and therefore a team. One way or another, this divorce should result in a huge payout for Guy Ritchie if properly handled.”
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