If you believe British newspapers then Madonna and Guy Ritchie’s marriage is over.
Sure, we’ve heard this allegation dozens of times in the last six months, but according to Britain’s The Sun the Material Girl and her British movie director husband are done with each other and are finally ready to make their split public… and official.
The Daily Mail is reporting that a joint statement from the couple addressing the divorce will be released to the media “imminently.”
The Sun is reporting that Madonna wants the divorce finalized before the eighth anniversary of their fairytale Scottish wedding on December 22nd.
The papers cite unnamed sources that claim the couple are going public with their split because they “can’t bear to live with the pretence any longer.”
According to the sources, the famous pair constantly fight about the time each devotes to their careers and more recently about Madonna’s desire to adopt a baby girl. (Ritchie reportedly didn’t want to bring another child into the family given the couple’s ongoing problems.)
The duo’s vicious shouting matches reportedly “smashed through their attempts at reconciliation like a sledgehammer.”
A highly placed source told The Sun: “It’s very sad. They were a great couple and brilliant parents. They just couldn’t live together any more.”
Friends of the singer told the paper that Madonna initially wanted to wait until next year — after her current Sticky and Sweet global tour was done – to announce the separation, but Ritchie demanded that the official split come now.
“Madonna wanted a highly stage-managed separation, with their split being announced when it was convenient for her,” says a newspaper source. However, Ritchie reportedly put his foot down, moved out of the couple’s London home and now their marriage will be over in a matter of weeks.
The papers are reporting that Ritchie has flown back from France, where he was shooting his new movie “Sherlock Holmes,” to break the news to his parents. Meanwhile, Madonna is reportedly making plans to move back to the United States with her daughter Lourdes, 12, (whose father is Madonna’s former trainer Carlos Leon) and her two sons with Ritchie, Rocco, 8, and David Banda, 2.
News of a split gathered speed this summer when Madonna was linked to the breakup of New York Yankees baseball star Alex Rodriquez and his wife, Cynthia Rodriquez. The pop star shot down rumors of a romance with Rodriquez and denied her own marriage was on the rocks, but now we know that at least one of those denials was not exactly accurate.