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Monday October 20, 2008

Madonna has promised to spend the majority of her time living in London – even though her marriage to British film director Guy Ritchie is set to end in divorce.

The Holiday hitmaker, 50, and the Snatch director, 40, put an end to months of speculation Wednesday (October 15) – by announcing they would be separating after almost 8 years of marriage.

And, according to British tabloid reports, Madonna has agreed to maintain a home in the UK to allow Guy regular contact with their three children -  Lourdes, 12, Rocco, seven, and two-year-old David.

A source tells the Daily Mirror, “Everyone expected Madonna to up sticks and go and live in New York – taking the children with her.

“But despite some of the unhappy memories that London holds, she still feels that it’s the best base for the kids.

“They are very happy at their school and she doesn’t want anything to interfere with that.

“Madonna was planning to leave and make a fresh start abroad. But London still has a massive hold on her and it’s hard to just shake off.

“While she will still spend a lot of time away from Britain like she does at the moment, any suggestion she’s turning her back on Britain for good are false.

“She needs to be close to the kids – and that means being in the UK with them.”

Madonna is being represented in the divorce proceedings by Paul McCartney’s former divorce lawyer Fiona Shackleton.

Guy has hired Lady Helen Ward of London firm Manches.

Ritchie has previously hit out at claims he was mean with money.

A source said, “He is furious — it’s the complete opposite.

“It’s Madonna who’s mean with money, even though she has ten times as much cash as Guy. She rarely dips in her pocket for anything.”

Copyright 2008 by Fame News and Features Ltd.