\nWhile the superstar singer has rarely blended in during her 25 years at the top, today her marriage was just another of 16 dissolved by District Judge Reid at the clinical Principal Registry of the Family Division in High Holburn, London.
\nNeither Madonna, 50, nor Ritchie, 40, were in court to see their seven-and-a-half-year marriage \u2013 heard as Ciccone M L v Ritchie G S \u2013 swiftly dissolved by decree nisi.
\nThe pair had been expected to embark on a l ong and hard-fought battle for Madonna\u2019s \u00a3300 million fortune and custody of their two sons when they announced their separation last month. But yesterday it emerged that they had reached an agreement for Rocco, 8, and David Banda, 3, to divide their time between Ritchie\u2019s London home and Madonna\u2019s native America. Lourdes, 12, the singer\u2019s daughter from a previous relationship, will live with her mother in New York.
\nRitchie, who has amassed a fortune estimated at \u00a330m through box office favourites Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, is understood to have walked away from the marriage without seeking any part of Madonna\u2019s wealth.
\nAfter being introduced by Sting\u2019s wife Trudie Styler, the couple married at Skibo Castle, in the Highlands, in 2000 and Madonna eagerly embraced British life, taking up hunting and spending time at the pub.
\nBut over recent years they have been dogged by difficulties. Considered a top director when they married, Ritchie\u2019s career has slumped with a string of box-office flops, including the universally-ridiculed Swept Away, starring Madonna.
\nThe couple gained custody of Malawian toddler David Banda in 2006 and brought him to live with them in London. But the pair then faced a 19-month-long battle to legally adopt him. Madonna has described the process as \u201cpainful\u201d and a \u201cstruggle\u201d.
\nIn July, the wife of baseball\u2019s highest paid star, Alex Rodriguez, filed for divorce, and accused Madonna of contributing to the collapse of her marriage. The singer denied any romantic involvement with Rodriguez.
\nMadonna is in the midst of a world tour and is due on stage in Atlantic City tomorrow night. Ritchie is in London directing Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law in Sherlock Holmes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"