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NEW YORK: Pop megastar Madonna and her British film director husband Guy Ritchie announced plans to divorce on Wednesday after seven and half years of marriage, ending months of speculation about their relationship.
Madonna, 50, who performed Wednesday night in Boston on her "Sticky and Sweet" world tour, married Ritchie, 40, in December 2000 in a lavish ceremony at a Scottish castle after meeting at a dinner party hosted by British rock star Sting.
The couple have an eight-year-old son, Rocco, and a three-year-old son adopted in Malawi, David Banda. Madonna also has a daughter, 12-year-old Lourdes, by her former fitness trainer Carlos Leon.
"Madonna and Guy Ritchie have agreed to divorce after seven and a half years of marriage," Madonna's spokeswoman said. "They have both requested that the media maintain respect for their family at this difficult time."
Confirmation of the break-up followed a report in Britain's Sun tabloid claiming that Ritchie had pushed for the split.
Madonna is widely regarded as the world's highest-earning female singer, with Forbes.com putting her atop its "Cash Queens of Music" with earnings of US$72 million between June 2006 and June 2007.
Some 20,000 fans turned out for her Boston stadium gig, where news of the break-up was greeted with sympathy and understanding.
"I'm not shocked by her divorce," said Amanda Smith, 32. "It goes with her reputation. It suits her."
"She's a cougar," added Brian Carnahan, 28, using American slang for an older woman who goes for younger men. "I love her outspoken attitude and she changes all the time."
A "highly placed sourced" told the Sun that Madonna and Ritchie "just couldn't live together anymore" after arguing incessantly over the amount of time devoted to their respective careers and Madonna's desire to adopt another child.
In July, Madonna took the rare step of formally denying reports linking her to Yankees baseball star Alex Rodriguez. She added in a statement: "My husband and I are not planning on getting a divorce."
According to The Sun, Ritchie - director of British gangster films including "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" and the just-released "RocknRolla" - has become frustrated.
He sees his superstar spouse as a "dead weight around his neck" and now wants a divorce to be agreed quickly, the source was quoted as saying.
"Guy's said if they were going to split, it has to be now - and their marriage will finally be over in a matter of weeks," the source told The Sun.
Madonna's mother-in-law, Ritchie's mother Lady Amber Leighton, made no comment to reporters who gathered outside her west London home, saying: "We are not talking to press and we won't be all day."
Madonna - her full name is Madonna Louise Ciccone - was previously married to US actor Sean Penn from 1985 to 1989.
In July, Madonna's estranged younger brother said he believed she was committed to her marriage to Ritchie.
"She's not the kind of person just to walk away," Christopher Ciccone, 47, told US television, adding that his sibling would "do what's best for her family and her kids."
Back in London, top British celebrity publicist Max Clifford said marriages between two high-profile people were bound to have strains.
"It's almost a conflict because of the demands of the business, the demands of the career," he said. "You can only see potential clashes along the way and possibly that's what's been happening."
- AFP/yb
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