Ritchie to get £49m in divorce settlement

Guy Ritchie will receive at least £49m (€54.6m) in his divorce settlement with Madonna, a spokeswoman for the singer confirmed.

The pop queen and the film director were granted a divorce last month, and some reports at the time claimed that Ritchie was walking away without a penny of Madonna’s fortune, estimated at £300m (€334m).

However, Madonna’s spokeswoman Liz Rosenberg said Ritchie would receive between $76m and $92m (€55m-€67m) in cash and property which included the couple’s country retreat Ashcombe House in Wiltshire.

The singer’s US representative said the couple’s west London pub – the Punchbowl – would also remain with Ritchie.

Their multi-million pound settlement is about twice the amount Paul McCartney paid to Heather Mills.

“I’d assume it’s one of the largest payouts ever in a divorce settlement,” Ms Rosenberg said.

She added that custodial arrangements for the couple’s children had yet to be finalised.

Madonna and Ritchie have two children, Rocco, eight, and David Banda, three, who was adopted from Malawi in 2006. The singer has a 12-year-old daughter, Lourdes, from a previous relationship with personal trainer Carlos Leon.

The couple’s marriage began as a fairytale wedding at the romantic Skibo Castle in the Highlands of Scotland.

But it came to an end with a “quickie divorce” at the Principal Registry of the Family Division in High Holborn, London.

When Mills and Paul McCartney divorced, the model received a settlement of £24.3m (€27m) after a bitter battle.

McCartney’s fortune was put by the judge at £450m (€501m).