Madonna and Guy strike deal to share custody of the children... but he doesn't get a penny of her £300m fortune

Madonna and Guy Ritchie have reached agreement on their divorce - with the British film director refusing to take a penny of the pop star’s cash, it has emerged.

An announcement could come by the end of the month, a source close to the negotiations tells London's Evening Standard.

Another report, in The Times, claimed that notice of a decree nisi would be posted in the Registry of the Family Division in London within 24 hours.

Madonna, who attended a charity gala in New York last night looking much younger than her fifty years , will walk away from the eight-year marriage with her fortune, estimated at £300m, intact.


Although Ritchie, himself believed to be worth £30m, was entitled under English divorce law to as much as half of her wealth, sources suggest he has done a 'Piper' - a reference to Billie Piper, the actress who divorced the broadcaster Chris Evans without asking for anything.

The stumbling block in the split had been over where Ritchie and Madonna’s children will now live.

Madonna, 50, wished to take the children back to New York while Ritchie, 40, wanted to keep his sons in London, where they have grown up.

The source said a compromise had now been reached which will see the two boys - Rocco, eight, and three-year-old adopted David - dividing their time between Britain and the US.

Madonna’s daughter Lourdes, by another relationship, will continue to live with her.

Richie, who is currently looking after their sons, took them both to the London set of his film Sherlock Holmes.

The source said: 'It will be all over by the end of the month. The priority for him has always been the children.

'Ritchie has not wanted her money. He has done exactly what Billie Piper did when she divorced Chris Evans. She walked away without any of his money, much to her credit. Guy Ritchie has done the same.'

A second source said: 'Ritchie could have taken her to the cleaners. He is a very honourable man to have walked away.'

Sources said the announcement of the settlement would not include financial details.

The couple only officially announced they were splitting last month after several weeks of speculation.

The speed with which they have come to a deal will come as a surprise because it follows reports that the split was acrimonious and therefore likely to drag on.

The two lawyers acting for the couple - Helen Ward and Fiona Shackleton - are said to have worked around the clock to reach a settlement. Lady Ward, who acted for Ritchie, brought on board leading children’s barrister Stephen Cobb QC to negotiate where the children will reside.

Mrs Shackleton used Nicholas Mostyn QC, an expert in the financial intricacies in divorce cases. Mrs Shackleton and Mr Mostyn represented Sir Paul McCartney in his divorce from Heather Mills.

One source said: 'It’s indicative of Ritchie’s priorities that he brought in Stephen Cobb. You wouldn’t go for Cobb if you were after a huge settlement.'
Madonna isn't letting her tense divorce negotiations slow her down, and last night stepped out looking positively radiant at a charity gala in New York.

The 50-year-old's skin seemed remarkably youthful as she glammed up with the help of lashings of red lipstick.

It was almost enough to distract from her wacky green dress, which more resembled shrubbery than a red carpet party frock.

'Guy was nothing but a cheap, fake gold-digger,' says Madonna as divorce war explodes

Madonna has hit out at her estranged husband Guy Ritchie, branding him 'a phoney' and a money-hungry gold digger'.

A week after announcing their intentions to divorce, close sources of the pop star say she is sick and tired of his attacks on her in the press and is keen to see him portrayed differently.

Good friends of the Material Girl told gossip blogger PerezHilton.com that Guy lived off Madonna's multi-million dollar bank account throughout their seven and a half year marriage, despite having his own fortune.
A source close to Madonna said: 'For his entire marriage to M, Guy lived like a king. He never spent a dime of his own money for their lifestyle or the children.'

Insiders told Perez that Guy insisted Madonna fund his holidays and buy a 1,200 acre country estate for him.

A source said: 'Madonna finally got fed up with him never being around and being used and filed for a divorce.

'Guy has threatened to go after half of M's hard-earned money, claiming that the law is on his side.

'He doesn't care that the world thinks of him as Heather Mills. He doesn't care that he has his own money and doesn't need hers. He feels he is entitled to half of her empire.
Madonna has been based in New York over the last few weeks as she performs North American dates on her Sticky & Sweet World Tour, while Guy is continuing to live in the couple's London townhouse while he directs his new film Sherlock Holmes.

Despite putting on a brave face on stage, friends of Madonna said she is devastated by the negative criticism she has received in the media since the break-up.

A source said: 'Guy Ritchie is a fake and a phoney. He is not a macho man. Not an English lad. Not a gentleman. Not spiritual. He's just a money-hungry gold digger that doesn't want to earn his way.'

In the divorce, the couple are expected to battle over their Marylebone home and their country estate in Wiltshire.

Since the split, speculation over the singer's friendship with New York Yankees baseball star Alex Rodriguez has intensified, with the couple expected to go public with their 'relationship' by the end of the year.

Speculation of a romantic relationship between the pair has been rife after the baseball star has been seen out and about with the pop star on a number of occasions since the summer.

Rodriguez, 33, is apparently weeks away from buying a Manhattan penthouse, worth an estimated £40million, just two blocks away from Madonna's apartment.

Haunted Madonna 'prepares for £50m divorce from Guy'

Madonna looked tired and stressed as she arrived back at her New York apartment last night - as friends claimed she and Guy Ritchie are to divorce.

After months of speculation, the couple are expected to end their nearly eight-year marriage, one of showbusiness's most volatile unions, imminently.

A divorce settlement could leave film director Guy pocketing up to £50million. It is believed the couple did not sign a pre-nuptial agreement.
Madonna, 50, is one of the world's richest women, with an estimated fortune of £300 million. Ritchie, 40 - director of Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels and recently RocknRolla - has his own independent wealth but it comes nowhere near his wife's. Reports earlier this year suggested that Madonna had already hired lawyer Fiona Shackleton - who represented Sir Paul McCartney in his courtroom battle with Heather Mills, and helped him reduce her claim on his £825million to £24million.
A claim by Ritchie for a share of Madonna's fortune would be based on their 10-year relationship, his support of her career and the fact that they have two children together, Rocco, eight, and adopted David Banda, two.

Madonna's determination to adopt a second child from Africa is said to be one of the main reasons for the separation.

Her husband fiercely opposes adding to the family in this way as their marriage was placed under severe strain two years ago when they adopted toddler David from Malawi.

The couple are said to have had a string of rows in recent months. But over the past three weeks it has become so strained they are thought to have communicated only through their personal assistants.

Madonna, who is currently on a gruelling world tour, is said to have wanted to postpone any separation until the New Year.

But Ritchie apparently decided that they should go their separate ways immediately. He is expected to move out of their London home and into Ashcombe House, Wiltshire, which is his property.

It is not clear where Madonna's daughter Lourdes, 12, Rocco and David will live.

The couple were due to celebrate their eighth wedding anniversary this Christmas.

Last night a close friend of the couple said: 'They have both been fighting and the marriage has been on the rocks for weeks.

'Guy has been the one who has come to the conclusion that enough is enough. They had planned to make it work in the New Year after the end of Madonna's world tour but it quickly became clear that the relationship was not worth saving.

'Guy has been saying that they both have separate lives at the moment.

'Madonna spends too much time in the gym and she is obsessed with trying to look years younger than her real age.'

The source added: 'Guy feels that Madonna does not focus on him any more.'

Last month Madonna left her husband's 40th birthday party after an hour and went home with their three children.

Ritchie carried on the celebrations at the Punch Bowl, the pub they own in Mayfair, until the early hours.

In July it was reported that the couple had drawn up a five-point plan as a last-ditch effort to save their marriage.

Rumours of problems intensified after it was suggested Madonna was romantically linked to New York Yankees baseball player Alex Rodriguez - which she strongly denied.

As part of their rescue plan, the couple decided to reduce their work schedules and agreed not to be apart for more than a week at a time.

Second, they agreed the children would be educated in Britain, where the family is based.

Madonna also pledged to cut her gym work-out time from four to three hours a day while Ritchie agreed to attend professional showbusiness events every two months
The couple married in Skibo Castle in Scotland in December 2000 - four months after the singer gave birth to their son Rocco.

Madonna is also mother to Lourdes, who turned 12 yesterday, from a previous relationship to fitness trainer Carlos Leon.

It was the first marriage for Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels director, but the second for Madonna, who had a famously tempestuous marriage with actor Sean Penn in the Eighties.