Madonna struck a pose with a rather telling gesture on the eve of her divorce today.

Sore point: Madonna's rude gesture in US last night

The 50-year-old singer, performing on the US leg of her global tour, thrust out her fingers on stage in Philadelphia.

The move may have been directed at Guy Ritchie after she took a sideswipe at him over claims that he left the marriage without a penny. The couple were divorced within minutes at London's High Court today after thrashing out a “quickie” settlement on the grounds of his “unreasonable behaviour.”

A source close to the negotiations said Ritchie had turned down a slice of Madonna's estimated £300m fortune. Instead, it was suggested, he secured a deal that would allow him to spend as much time as possible with their sons Rocco, eight, and adopted three-year-old David.

But a source close to Madonna said today: “It's not true that Guy hasn't received a penny. That is fantasy land. It's certainly not nothing.”

Confidentiality clauses will stop the deal ever being made public. With director Ritchie, 40, in Liverpool filming Sherlock Holmes, neither one of the couple was in court for the case of Ciccone ML v Ritchie GS.

Lawyers praised them for the speed and discretion with which they sorted out the divorce, after only announcing their separation last month.

For the kids: Richie in Liverpool with his two boys

Ritchie, photographed with his two boys going out to dinner in Liverpool last night, is estimated to be worth about £30m, but under English law was entitled to as much as half of Madonna's fortune after seven and a half years' marriage.

He told his lawyers to negotiate a settlement which ensured his sons divided their time between London and New York. Madonna's daughter Lourdes, 12, will live in New York to be close to her father Carlos Leon.