Celebrity Divorce

International singing star Madonna and her husband Guy Ritchie are ending their marriage, it has been reported.

The star and her film director husband will announce they are to divorce imminently according to The Sun newspaper.

Mr Ritchie, 40, and Madonna, 50, married seven years ago at a lavish ceremony in Scotland but rumours have been circulating that their relationship has become more and more strained.

A recent escalation in rows has led to the couple communicating via their personal assistants, the newspaper said.

It reported that Madonna had wanted to wait until the end of her Sticky and Sweet global tour before announcing the split but the date has been brought forward and both parties now want a divorce finalised before Christmas.

Mr Ritchie has stopped filming his latest movie in France so he can inform his parents of the split before leaving the couple's London home and moving into their Wiltshire mansion, the newspaper added.

Elizabeth Tait from law firm Irwin Mitchell said: "Last year we played witness to the very public divorce of Paul McCartney and Heather Mills.

"The high stakes and high cost of the Mills vs McCartney divorce has caused focus to shift to alternative ways of untangling the myriad with the collaborative model leading the way.

"Collaborative family law is designed to facilitate positive outcomes for separating couples and beneficial for couples such as Madonna and Guy who both have so much to lose, and children to consider.

"With this particular method, specially trained collaborative lawyers receive support legally and financially as well as from a social, practical and emotional view point in order to minimise the damage."