Madonna & Guy Ritchie will fight over kids not money, says source

Madonna and Guy Ritchie are far more likely to fight over their children than money, a source has claimed.

A source told the Sun that the couple have very different views on where the children - primarily sons Rocco and David, but also Madonna’s daughter Lourdes from a previous relationship - should be raised: “Madonna wants them to be brought up in the cosmopolitan environment of New York.

“Guy wants them to continue growing up in London and Wiltshire, being privately educated in Britain.

“Guy is really upset that his parents may be prevented from seeing Rocco. Rocco is Guy’s beloved little boy.

“They do everything together. He adores him. He wants him to be a Londoner. The idea that he will be across the Atlantic from him most of the time is really tearing him apart.

“Guy is [also] really frustrated that Madonna is building a legal case on her being this earth mother-style primary carer who looks after the children most of the time.”

British divorce courts may side with Madonna: despite the family being based in the UK since the couple’s marriage in 2000, courts generally favour the mother in custody battles and Madonna would be allowed to take the children to the US because she lived most of her life over there.

However, according to the London Evening Standard, Guy has hired divorce lawyer Helen Ward to represent him in the proceedings and she is said to be “particularly adept at protecting the interests of fathers”. Madonna is said to have hired Fiona Shackleton, who previously represented Paul McCartney, Prince Charles and Prince Andrew in their high profile splits.