Ananova:

Pop star Madonna and her husband Guy Ritchie are to divorce, it has been reported.

The Sun newspaper said that the couple will announce the split imminently.

Film director Ritchie, 40, and Madonna married seven years ago at a lavish ceremony in Scotland.

But rumours have been circulating within the press that their relationship was increasingly under strain.

The Sun reported that a recent escalation in rows has led to Madonna and Ritchie communicating via their personal assistants.

The paper reported that Madonna had wanted to wait until the end of her Sticky and Sweet global tour before announcing the split.

But the date has now been brought forward with both parties wanting a divorce finalised before Christmas, it claimed.

Ritchie has broken off from filming in France to fly back to the UK to inform his parents of the split, the paper added.

He will now move out of the couple's London home and move into the Wiltshire mansion owned by the pair.

A source told the Sun: "Despite huge attempts to patch things up they both know deep down that divorce was on the cards. It wasn't a matter of 'if' but 'when'."