Pop singer Madonna will divorce British film director Guy Ritchie, the singer's spokeswoman in London confirmed today.
The announcement of the divorce of Madonna (50) and British film maker Ritchie (40) who married in 2000, comes after months of rumours.
A report in a British tabloid newspaper the Suntoday said the couple would announce the split "imminently".
Madonna and Ritchie have denied previous reports that they planned to end their eight-year marriage.
The Sunquoted a "highly-placed source" as saying the couple "just couldn't live together any more" and could "no longer bear to live with the pretence" of being happily married.
Rumours that the London-based couple planned to split have been circulating for months, fuelled by reports in the summer that the singer had lined up Fiona Shackleton, a lawyer who acted for former Beatle Paul McCartney in his divorce.
Madonna and Ritchie have a son, Rocco, who was several months old on their wedding day. In 2006 Madonna applied to adopt David Banda, a boy from Malawi whose mother died shortly after his birth.
The adoption was approved by a court in Malawi in May.
Madonna also has a daughter, Lourdes, from an earlier relationship. She was married once before, to actor Sean Penn, in the 1980s.
Reuters