Wow, that was fast: Madonna and Guy Ritchie have reached an agreement in their high-profile split and will divorce this weekend.
According to Britain’s Evening Standard newspaper, the couple will have their decree nisi posted at the High Court in London on Friday.
The way they were: Madonna and Guy Ritchie
Once the judge has granted the couple a preliminary divorce decree, their split will be finalised in about six weeks.
Several news reports say the singer and film director reached a private agreement on splitting their wealth as well as custody of their children.
Most interesting of all, word has it that Madge will also hold on to her estimated £300 million fortune.
Ritchie, who is believed to be worth at least £30 million himself, was entitled under English divorce law to get his mitts on at least half of Madge’s fortune. But Mr. Madonna doesn’t want a sniff of it.
The biggest bone of contention between the pair during the divorce deliberations has been over where their kids will live.
Shortly after they announced their split last month, news emerged that Madonna was keen to uproot herself and her brood to New York – a move which reportedly enraged her estranged husband. Ritchie, a Cockney geezer if ever there was one, was adamant that the kids be based and educated in London.
But it appears as though the pair has overcome that particular stumbling block, and reached an agreement about where the kids will live.
Two sons, Rocco, 8, and adopted David, three, will divide their time between homes in London and America. Lourdes, 12, will live with Madonna in New York.
A snitch close to the couple said: “It will all be over by the end of the month. Ritchie has done exactly what Billie Piper did when she divorced Chris Evans. She walked away without any of his money, much to her credit. He has done the same.”
While another pal tells The Times: “He could have hugely boosted his bank balance and set himself up for life, but he already feels he has enough money.
“He also didn’t want the whole thing dragging on in the public gaze for months and months and, in any case, his priority was the children’s future.”
But a source tells People.com that Ritchie’s flouting of Madonna’s riches couldn’t be further from the truth.
“He’s going to get a huge windfall, contrary to what’s being reported,” the snitch says.
“He’s getting a lot of money from the settlement. He’s not the gentleman he’s portraying himself as.”
Fashion Grinch
Meanwhile, her Madgesty was spotted looking fabulous, but slightly freaky, at a charity Gala in New york last night.
Dressed in a fugly dress made from what looked like a strip of AstroTurf, the high priestess of pop looked decidedly Grinch-like in her ensemble.
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