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Madonna 'too fond of London' to leave after divorce battle
Robert Mendick, Chief Reporter20.10.08
MADONNA may stay in London even after divorcing Guy Ritchie, it was reported today.
The singer, 50, had been expected to quit the capital for New York, taking her children with her.
Custody and access to the two children is likely to be a major stumbling block in the divorce especially if Madonna chooses to live in the US.
But one report today suggested she was too fond of London to quit after spending nearly a decade here. "Everyone expected Madonna to up sticks and go and live in New York, taking the children with her," a source told the Daily Mirror.
"But despite some of the unhappy memories that London holds, she still feels that it's the best base for the kids. They are happy at the school and she doesn't want anything to interfere with that."
The suggestion is apparently at odds with claims Madonna is expected in coming months "to go public" with Alex Rodriguez, who plays for the New York Yankees and is baseball's highest-paid player. One report today even went as far as to claim that Madonna wants to have a child with Rodriguez.
Reports over the weekend that a divorce settlement was being thrashed out appear to be dashed by allegations that Ritchie, a film director with an independent fortune estimated at £20 million, is, according to The Sun today, "determined to take her to the cleaners".
The newspaper quotes an alleged friend of Madonna who branded Ritchie a "gold-digger".
Madonna is worth around £300 million and Ritchie under English divorce law is entitled to as much as half of that.
It will be for Madonna's lawyer to argue why he should receive less. The first shots in the war over her fortune appeared to have been fired with claims Madonna's friends have nicknamed Ritchie "Material Guy", a pun on her Eighties hit single Material Girl.
The friend of Madonna told the Sun: "He hasn't earned a penny of it, yet wants to take, take, take."
The reality is that both sets of lawyers will be arguing over the size of Ritchie's divorce compensation and his access to their children while trying to keep the negotiations as amicable as possible at least at this stage.
Madonna has hired Fiona Shackleton, who represented Sir Paul McCartney in his divorce from Heather Mills, while Ritchie has engaged Helen Ward, who secured Britain's highest divorce settlement.
Reader views (5)
With your insulting comments about English men, yes please go Madonna, we didn't want you ten years ago and we certainly don't want you now.
- Jane, Tower Hamlets, England.
I somehow don't think this is going to see a sudden rise in the sale of hankies.
- L.Taubler, London / UK.
I wouldn't blame her if she wanted to return to New York permanently. What's the attraction of staying here in London (other than the upheaval of uprooting her kids)? The weather's depressing, everything is expensive (a friend of mine that was visiting from the US gulped at the size of the dish he received when we dined out in comparison to the price and exclaimed that you'd pay half the price for the same dish and would be given double the portion as well!), the service in London is shoddy at best, transports expensive and invariably never on time and closes early (unlike the 24hr transport system in New York), plus there's no 24hr take out here (unlike New York) so if you're feeling peckish late into the night and your cupboard's bare your only option is to munch on cereal!...No I'd be out of London and this country in a shot!...
- Ali Sichilongo, London
Who cares anyway? I feel sorry for her circus freak show children, what a life for them under the constant glare of the spotlight and seeing their parents go through what might be a very public, messy divorce.
- Sharon, London
madonna should come back to new york and pick up where she left off 10 years ago. her little british vacation is now over ... she can now give up that silly and date baseball players!
- Milagros, new york
