Ritchie and Madonna reach agreement

Madonna and Guy Ritchie (pictured together earlier this year) appear to have come to an agreement over the terms of their split and will be divorced at the High Court in London today, according to court lists.

A source close to the couple told the London Evening Standard that Ritchie is seeking no financial settlement, leaving the 50-year-old singer's £300m fortune intact. Although Ritchie was entitled under English divorce law to as much as half her wealth, sources suggest he has done a "Piper" - a reference to Billie Piper, the actress who divorced the broadcaster Chris Evans without asking for anything.

The stumbling block in the split had been over where Ritchie and Madonna's children will now live. Madonna, 50, wished to take the children back to New York while Ritchie, 40, wanted to keep his sons in London, where they have grown up. The Standard's source said a compromise had been reached: the two boys - Rocco, eight, and three-year-old adopted David - will divide their time between Britain and the US. Madonna's daughter Lourdes, fathered by dancer Carlos Leon, will continue to live with her.

The paper claims that the two lawyers acting for the couple - Helen Ward and Fiona Shackleton, who represented Sir Paul McCartney in his divorce from Heather Mills - have been working round-the-clock to reach a settlement. "It will be all over by the end of the month," said the source. "I am sure it will be announced by then. The priority for him has always been the children. Ritchie has not wanted her money."