Guy Ritchie: Back to Work

By Pete Norman
Photo by: George Pimentel / WireImage

Director Guy Ritchie was on the set of his latest film Sherlock Holmes near London when his divorce from Madonna was officially confirmed.

Ritchie spent a gray and wet Wednesday filming interior scenes with Sherlock star Robert Downey Jr. at Hatfield House, a 400-year-old mansion located on about 1,000 acres north of London.

But Ritchie couldn't escape the paparazzi - photographers were spotted exiting the estate dressed in camouflage clothes shortly after the divorce was confirmed.

The UK's Sun had earlier reported that Ritchie will move out of the couple's central London home and into his own estate, which is located west of London in Wiltshire.

Ritchie is expected to continue filming this week in London before moving the film set to other locations around England.

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Madonna, Guy confirm split

(AAP)

Splits ville for pop queen Madonna and her British film director husband Guy Ritchie have agreed to divorce, a spokeswoman for Madonna has confirmed.

"Madonna and Guy Ritchie have agreed to divorce after seven and a half years of marriage, their representatives confirmed today," the spokeswoman said in a statement.

"They have both requested that the media maintain respect for their family at this difficult time."

The spokeswoman would give no other details.

The confirmation followed a report in Britain's Sun tabloid quoting a source who said Ritchie, 40, had pushed for the split.

Madonna, who is in the middle of her "Sticky and Sweet" world tour, married Ritchie in December 2000 in a lavish ceremony at a Scottish castle after meeting at a dinner party given by British rock star Sting.

UK's Daily Mail reports Madonna's friend and oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow had spent the past few months trying to convince her not to separate from Ritchie for the sake of their three children.

The couple have an eight-year-old son, Rocco, and a three-year-old son adopted in Malawi, David Banda. Madonna, 50, also has a daughter, 12-year-old Lourdes, by her former fitness trainer Carlos Leon.

Ritchie is expected to move out of the couple's London home and into his Wiltshire property in south west England.

It is not yet clear where the children will live.

In July, Madonna took the rare step of issuing a formal denial of reports linking her to US baseball star Alex Rodriguez, adding in a statement: "My husband and I are not planning on getting a divorce."

But according to The Sun, Ritchie — famous for gangster films including "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" — has become frustrated, seeing her as a "dead weight around his neck" and now wants a divorce to be agreed quickly.

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