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Ritchie richer and ‘relieved’

MADONNA WILL GIVE Guy Ritchie just £10million in a divorce settlement.

As part of the deal Guy, 40, has agreed to a gagging clause that will prevent him from ever talking about their seven-and-a-half-year marriage.

The couple agreed the settlement via their lawyers and film director Guy on Saturday told friends he is “hugely relieved” and walking away from the broken marriage “a happier man.”

Madonna, worth around £300million, has agreed he will have full access to their sons, eight-year-old Rocco and adopted David Banda, three. The singer also has a daughter Lourdes, 12, by fitness trainer Carlos Leon.

Guy will own Ashcombe House, their 1,200-acre £10million estate in Wiltshire, while Madonna will keep the couple's £7million townhouse in Marylebone in central London.

A source close to Guy said: “He just wants out, he has had enough of the Madonna circus and he is massively relieved. It was never about the money. The most important things to him are having full access to his kids, whom he adores, and a quiet life.

“The one thing he wants more than anything is their house in the country along with his pub The Punchbowl. She is giving Guy £10million, which is the value of their London home and it's basically a way of buying his silence. The deal includes Guy signing a gagging order - he will never be able to talk about what really went on.

“Guy is more than happy to sign - it's not his style to talk. He just wants to move on with his life. There is no more pain left, just relief. Guy is walking away and has said he is a much happier man. Madonna's love affair with England is over and she wants her old life in the States back again.

“The children are with her now in New York and she plans to educate them in the States.”

Living a lie

It was revealed in May that the couple were living separate lives and had discussed dividing their assets. They had not planned to announce their divorce until the end of Madonna's world tour, but sources say Guy was fed up with ‘living a lie.’

“Guy fell out of love with Madonna a long time ago,” said the source. “It's very sad, but really they were only together for the kids. They were living on different floors at their London home and Guy would spend every weekend in the country while Madonna would be with her rent-a-crowd friends.

“Guy is the most doting father you can imagine. He absolutely adores the kids, all of them, and the most important thing is that he can see them whenever he wants. He was wary of adopting a baby, but the bond between him and David is so strong now, and he loves Rocco more than anything in the world.

“He is not going for custody of the kids because he knows the chance of getting them is very slim. Madonna has never harmed the children or been a bad mother.

“Guy's legal team have advised him she will get custody and that the children will probably be based in America so Guy is making plans to buy an apartment in New York.

“It will be hard for him because he has been spending a lot of time with the children, especially while Madonna has been on tour. He hates the idea of the kids always being on a plane living a New York-London lifestyle, but that will probably be the reality.”

Fuming over leak

Madonna is still said to be “fuming” that news of their split was leaked last week. The star was so unprepared that her agent had to rush out a Press release within hours of it breaking in Britain.

Madonna believes the story was leaked by sources close to Ritchie who is furious that she has continued to cultivate a close friendship with baseball star Alex Rodriguez, known as A-Rod, while they were meant to be repairing their marriage.

She is so close to 33-year-old Rodriguez, who divorced his wife Cynthia earlier this year, that she had to deny they were dating after they were photographed together at New York restaurant Dos Caminos twice last month.

A source said Rodriguez is in negotiations to buy an apartment in Central Park West close to Madonna's home.

“Alex is so obsessed with Madonna that he threw a party for her where he only allowed her tunes to be played,” said the friend.

“He is besotted. He has turned to Kabbalah to please her. He became obsessed with her about a year ago when she introduced him to Kabbalah, he has since donated millions of dollars to the centre. He showers her with compliments and makes her feel young, which Guy never did. He's hispanic and totally her type. He even wants to go to Malawi with Madonna to work on the Kabbalah centre she built there.”

Madonna's obsession with the Jewish-based faith is said to have been the final nail in the coffin of her marriage. Guy is still a follower, but feels his wife made it a circus.

“Guy has actually come out all the better for his commitment to Kabbalah,” a close friend said.

“He has found peace. For Madonna, Kabbalah is about having her own cult. He thinks she follows it for all the wrong reasons.”

Guy was also adamant that he could not move to New York as he needed to support his frail father who is suffering from a long-term illness. John Ritchie, 79, faces moving from the Chelsea home he shares with second wife Shireen, 61, as the lease runs out soon.

A source said: “Guy is close to his sister, Tabitha, who has been looking after their father a lot and he wants to support her and John.”