Madonna Ditches Ritchie, Probably Half of Riches

We guess that going on a spouse-free vacation and returning with the gift of an adopted African child instead of a T-shit that says "My Wife Went To Malawi and All I Got Was a Case of Dysentery" can take a toll on a marriage. Rumor has it that Madonna has (finally, expectedly) started divorce proceedings against accomplished filmmaker husband Guy Ritchie. UK gossip Holy Moly has the exclusive scoop:

Sources have revealed exclusively to Holy Moly that Madonna has hired Britain's toughest divorce lawyer, Nicholas Mostyn QC, to kick start divorce proceedings against her husband of eight years, Guy Ritchie.

Mostyn will no doubt strike fear into the heart of Guy – he is the man who sorted out Heather Mills, trounced Earl Spencer and almost destroyed Ray Parlour in his previous high profile divorce cases.

Suggestions made seem to indicate that, surprisingly, Madonna and Guy do NOT have a pre-nup in place, leaving Guy in line to walk away with up to half of Madge's fortune (according to Forbes she earned $72m last year alone).

Long standing rumours of a rift between the couple are finally confirmed with this news, as Holy Moly's sources suggest nothing more than "growing apart" as the reason for the split. They have spent increasing amounts of time apart with both Madonna's new album and tour and Guy's revived movie career are cited as reasons. The adoption of David Banda attracted a huge wave of negative publicity, allegedly putting further strain on the relationship. The couple have one other son, Rocco, and Lourdes, Madonna's daughter from a relationship with her fitness instructor Carlos Leon.

Madge's meeting with Nicholas Mostyn took place at his London office just over ten days ago.

Don't put any bets on seeing this dragged into the courts McCartney-style though – we can only assume that both Madonna and Guy Ritchie will want to keep this a very private affair.

Having said that, Madonna is theoretically entitled to half of Guy's fortune too – which at least means she'll be able to continue making money out of Snatch. Pleasure.

Holy Moly has approached Madonna's UK representative and is awaiting a response.

What Ritchie is likely to receive as a settlement: enough cash to fund a couple dozen Kabbalah-deprogramming centers (he'll be the first client); the master prints for Swept Away, some liter fluid, and a book of matches; Madonna's faux British accent. What Madonna will walk away with: a completely new identity. And if she has trouble coming up with yet another personality on short notice, we don't think Celestia is getting much use these days; perhaps Madge could co-opt and revive her.


Madonna is mad naked at MrSkin.com.