Madonna And Guy Ritchie: Details About Their Marriage & Why They Split

We all love to swoon over Hollywood marriages that have stood the test of time, such as the long-lasting unions of Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, or Warren Beatty and Annette Bening. 

The Material Girl, however, is one A-list celebrity who has not had as much luck in the matrimony department. Madonna's relationship history has a lot of ups and downs, including a marriage to Oscar-winning actor Sean Penn. Theirs only lasted from 1985 until 1989, and was characterized by high drama and rumors of spousal abuse (she has since denied the various domestic violence allegations that made the rounds). Her second, to British film director Guy Ritchie, went a bit longer, lasting from 2000 until 2008. The marriage also proved to be a turbulent one, coming to a bitter end that made headlines throughout the world. As Ritchie later told Details (via ABC News), "I stepped into a soap opera, and I lived in it for quite a long period of my life."

So how did it all go so wrong? To find out, read further for a look at Madonna and Guy Ritchie, uncovering details about their marriage and why they split.

In 1999, Madonna was enjoying one of her various career peaks, coming off the release of her 1998 album "Ray of Light," and its six hit singles. At that time, Guy Ritchie had become Britain's hottest young movie director, thanks to the success of his kinetic crime thriller "Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels." As it happened, one night the two were guests at a party thrown by Trudie Styler and her husband, rocker Sting, who introduced them (Styler was already a big booster of Ritchie's, having produced and co-financed his film). 

The two, both overachievers at the top of their respective games, hit it off. Madonna, though, was particularly smitten. "I had a whole premonition of my life fast-forward," she said in Andrew Morton's "Madonna." "My head didn't just turn, my head spun round on my body. I was taken by his confidence. He was sort of cocky but in a self-aware way." She also told Morton that she also found Ritchie's intellect to be appealing. "He's a risk taker and he's got a hungry mind," she said. 

Actor Rupert Everett, Madonna's longtime friend, approved of Ritchie, noting he was different from the sort of men she'd been dating up to that point. "Guy works almost as hard as Madonna does," Everett told Morton. "He's definitely not a boy toy."

After that initial meeting, Guy Ritchie and Madonna went on to become a full-fledged couple, although the relationship was reportedly on-and-off during those early months. Another complication was the inconvenient fact that Guy was already in a relationship with British television personality Tania Strecker, from which he extricated himself (reportedly not until February of 2000). Another bone of contention was whether they would live in the U.K. or the U.S.; Madonna was the one to cave in on that negotiation, and moved to London in order to be with Guy.

Meanwhile, Madonna had also discovered she was pregnant. During the pregnancy, she was diagnosed with placenta previa, a condition that causes blood loss in both mother and child, endangering both their lives. After a fraught delivery, in August 2000 the couple welcomed their son Rocco Ritchie (born in Los Angeles, a fact that led the British press to whip up controversy over the assumption that Madonna felt British hospitals weren't good enough for her).

Three months later, the seriousness of the relationship amped up considerably when she announced they'd gotten engaged. "Guy has asked me to marry him and I've said yes but we haven't decided when yet," Madonna told The Sun (via BBC News). Shortly after that, however, confusion erupted when Madonna's rep, Liz Rosenberg, backtracked on her client's statement. "There are no wedding plans," Rosenberg told Mr. Showbiz (via ABC News). "Madonna is not engaged."

In December 2000, Madonna and Guy Richie baptized son Rocco Ritchie, then 4 months old, in a ceremony performed at Dornoch Cathedral in Scotland. That holy ritual preceded another taking place later that same day, when the pair exchanged vows at Scotland's Skibo Castle. As ABC News reported, Church of Scotland minister Susan Brown performed the nuptials. The guest list was predictably star-studded; in addition to matchmakers Sting and Trudie Styler, other celebs in attendance included Oscar-winner Gwyneth Paltrow (who served as maid of honor), fashion designer Stella McCartney (who designed Madonna's wedding gown), famed fashionista Donatella Versace, and actor Rupert Everett. Best man duties were shared by nightclub owner Piers Adam and movie producer Matthew Vaughn.

Madonna was so paranoid that her wedding — which cost a reported $2 million — would be swarmed by reporters that she apparently employed a crew of security personnel that utilized military grade thermal imaging equipment and infrared cameras to detect intruders. Evidently, the security guards had their work cut out for them: Dozens of members of the press hid out around the venue, many wearing camouflage gear and even crawling around. "At various times you might have mistaken it for a scene out of 'The Longest Day,'" a reporter told the New York Post, referring to the classic war movie.

Secrecy was largely maintained, and after it was all over Brown confirmed to reporters that the superstar couple did indeed tie the knot.

Following their wedding, newlyweds Guy Ritchie and Madonna used their combined showbiz clout to collaborate on a movie. The couple teamed up on "Swept Away," a remake of Lina Wertmüller's 1974 drama about an obnoxious wealthy woman who becomes shipwrecked on a deserted island with her servant. Ritchie directed the flick; Madonna played the aforementioned obnoxious wealthy woman. 

Whether the relationship depicted on screen was reflective of the state of the couple's own is debatable, but there was no question that the movie itself was an unmitigated bomb, failing both critically (evidenced by its lousy 6% score on Rotten Tomatoes) and commercially (raking in a pathetic worldwide box office of just $1 million, a mere 10th of what it cost to make).

Looking back on the experience, Ritchie admitted that he hadn't considered how significantly the public's insatiable curiosity about their marriage would impact the film, which he intended would receive the level of attention that it did. "The idea was that the wife and I would make some sassy little art movie," he told People (via Paste), "but we got the s*** kicked out of us." As Ritchie later observed, he'd been known for a very specific style of movie up until then, and venturing out of his comfort zone did not yield rewards. "That was the first time I jumped out of my familiar territory, and boy, did I get punished for it," he told Yahoo! Entertainment in 2017. 

Madonna and Guy Ritchie had only been spouses for a brief time when rumors began swirling that their marriage was on the rocks. By 2008, however, those rumors had grown stronger and more persistent. According to Ian Drew, editor at large at Us Weekly, the relationship had hit a breaking point. "When there's smoke there's fire," Drew told ABC News, "and in this one case where there's been a lot of smoke building and building, and there's a real big poof of it right now." That "poof" was evident in an unconfirmed report from The Times claiming that Madonna had enlisted the services of divorce attorney Fiona Shackleton, who represented Paul McCartney in the former Beatle's contentious split from Heather Mills. That report rang true to Drew, who predicted the couple's divorce was both inevitable and certain to be bitter. "My sense is honestly it hasn't been an all together amicable marriage the last few years, so I don't think it's going to be absolutely amicable," he said.

The root of the problem between the two was reportedly ego, with Ritchie peeved at being characterized as "Mr. Madonna," while his wife admitted she wasn't accustomed to letting someone else have the spotlight. "I'm used to being the diva in the room and the person I am with is much more of a support system for me," she said in an interview with Steve Hochman. "So I had to adjust to, you know, sharing diva space."

Rumors that Madonna and Guy Ritchie were on the cusp of divorce proved to be right on the money when, in October 2008, they announced their split. "Madonna and Guy Ritchie have agreed to divorce after seven-and-a-half years of marriage," a rep said in a statement, as reported by France24. Adding another layer to their uncoupling, however, was the fact that they had only just finalized their second son's adoption. Ritchie and Madonna first welcomed David Banda into their family in 2006, but their Malawi-born son's adoption wasn't made official until May 2008.

Meanwhile, insiders told People that their divorce had been a long time coming. "It was unraveling throughout the last year," a source told the outlet. "They were living separate lives and coming together every now and then for the cameras." Among the varied issues to have reportedly caused rifts in the relationship were Madonna's rumored fling with New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez, her involvement with Kabbalah (and Ritchie's disdain for it), and his opposition to her adoption plans. "It wasn't just one thing," the source added. "They just lost their connection."

The couple were officially divorced the following month, granted a "quickie" divorce because neither made any formal demands of spousal support from the other. Trudie Styler, who'd introduced them all those years earlier, told "Access Hollywood" that she wasn't surprised to see them go their separate ways. "Obviously they've been struggling for a while," Styler said (via People). 

After their divorce was finalized, new details emerged indicating just how costly it was for Madonna to end her marriage to Guy Ritchie. The singer's spokesperson, Liz Rosenberg, issued a statement (via Reuters) that Ritchie had received a settlement amount somewhere in the range of £50 million to £60 million (or between $76 million and $92 million in U.S. currency).

As Rolling Stone pointed out, that was a fraction of Madonna's fortune, which at the time had been estimated at $490 million. The amount, the outlet added, included the value of their shared estate in the English countryside, and a pub that they co-owned, with ownership of both being transferred solely to Ritchie. 

After that massive settlement amount had already made the news outlet rounds, the ex-spouses issued a joint statement to reveal the previously reported amount — which had been provided to both Reuters and the AP — was inaccurate. However, an unnamed source claimed to the Standard that the number wasn't too far off from the actual amount. "What we put out in the Standard on Monday was very close to the mark," the exes said in their statement to the. "Guy is getting money and he isn't getting nothing," the statement added, without indicating how much money Ritchie actually had received. 

After the dust had settled and the Guy Ritchie-Madonna divorce had been made official, all manner of "insiders" and supposed friends came out of the woodwork to claim they'd seen the split coming for years. However, as one of those sources told People, the biggest issue that drove a wedge between the couple was the simple fact that Madonna was, well, Madonna.

"She was more about being a celebrity and he was more low key," the source explained. "He wanted to live in London and live a normal life but that's impossible when you're married to Madonna." Another issue was Madonna's insistence on adopting son David Banda, with a source telling the outlet that Ritchie felt they needed to focus on solidifying their own shaky relationship, not bring another child into it. "From what I understand Guy really didn't want to adopt David," the source stated. "But Madonna insisted. And what Madonna wants, Madonna gets."

Several years later, Madonna looked back at the failed marriage, and concluded that what had begun as a fairytale romance progressed in a direction that she hadn't anticipated. "Then time goes by, and you share a life, you have children, and there are cracks in the veneer," she mused in a 2012 interview with Newsweek. "It's not as romantic as it used to be. You think, 'This isn't what I thought it was going to be,' and 'How much am I willing to sacrifice?'"

As any fan of Madonna must have certainly ascertained, the primary message she's always promoted has been one of personal freedom. Ironically, that was apparently the one thing that was missing for her during her marriage to Guy Ritchie. Speaking with The Sun in 2015, she recalled how unhappy she'd been, and how trapped she'd felt. "There were times when I felt incarcerated. I wasn't really allowed to be myself," Madonna said (via Us Weekly).

As Madonna explained, she was well aware that any relationship can only flourish if both partners make compromises, but admitted she hadn't been prepared for the extent of the compromises that Ritchie would ultimately expect from her. "However, you know, I did find myself sometimes in a state of conflict," she added. "There were many times when I wanted to express myself as an artist in ways that I don't think my ex-husband felt comfortable with."

Despite how badly things ended with Ritchie, Madonna admitted that she was still open to matrimony — in theory, at least. "Never say never," she said of the possibility of getting hitched for a third time. "I don't have any limitations for myself in terms of relationships... I'm single," she added. "But I'd like to have a man around the house — that would be nice."

It's often been said there are two sides to every story, and that was certainly the case in the marriage of Madonna and Guy Ritchie. While Madonna may have felt that Ritchie clipped her wings and tried to box her in, he maintained a very different perspective on what caused the relationship to implode. 

Or at least that's what Ritchie told some "mates," who then blabbed to British tabloid the Mirror about what he'd allegedly said to them. According to those friends, he'd confided that the laughter that he and Madonna used to share had long since stopped being a part of their relationship. He also griped about her intense focus on maintaining her stardom. "She's obsessed with her own public image, obsessed with being seen as some kind of global soothsayer," Ritchie reportedly said. "It's silly, she's a pop star. And some of the advisers around her, some of whom have gone, made it impossible for us to have a semblance of a normal life."

In fact, Ritchie said (via those friends), it was his desire for normalcy that clashed head-on with Madonna's gargantuan fame. "Our marriage was a three-ring circus in the end," he said. "We started as a normal family and tried to live a normal family life, but she wanted something else."

It's fair to say that Madonna moved on after her divorce from Guy Ritchie. In the years since they split, she's coupled up with several men, including French dancer and model Brahim Zaibat (who is 30 years her junior), and Dutch dancer Timor Steffens (also 30 years younger), dancer and choreographer Ahlamalik Williams (36 years younger), boxer Josh Popper (35 years younger), and Jamaican soccer player Akeem Morris (who is nearly 40 years younger than her). 

As some unnamed insiders claimed to Life & Style, ever since Madonna divorced Ritchie her romances have been strictly of the "boy-toy" variety. That was reportedly the case in her romance with Morris, in which she showered him with gifts and expensive clothing — but at a cost. "That means he has to go to sleep when she does, get up when she does, eat the same diet as she does, he's banned from watching TV and she doesn't like him to be on his phone unless he's doing something for her," a source said. 

"She's been doing this ever since she and Guy Ritchie split up 20 years ago," the tipster said, implying that Madonna would never again open herself up to heartbreak. "She vowed never to let her heart get too involved after that because she was crushed by her divorce," the source added, "so now she treats her love life the same way she would any other business hire."