The odd couple and the £100m divorce

Their marriage in December 2000 shocked the worlds of film and pop and cemented an unlikely union between a truly global superstar and an up-and-coming British film director. Many said then that the intense media scrutiny of their celebrity relationship meant it was doomed from the start.

Yesterday, the cynics were proved right when Madonna Louise Ciccone Ritchie, 50, and Guy Ritchie, 40, said they were separating in what family law experts believe could be a divorce settlement of £100m – the largest in British history. A short joint statement issued by the couple made it clear there were still many differences that needed to be resolved, and urged the media to respect their privacy.

The once golden couple of pop and film first met in 1998 at a dinner party hosted by Sting's wife, Trudie Styler. Their son Rocco was born two years later and they tied the knot at Skibo Castle in Scotland. After the marriage, Madonna's stock remained high as she used her keen eye for fashion and a unique grasp of the pop zeitgeist to maintain her status as the world's most successful female solo artist. Her husband's film career, however, was on a less stable footing.

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After his early success with the British gangster films Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels in 1998 and Snatch two years later, Ritchie struggled to repeat the feat and became involved in a number of poorly received projects. Perhaps the biggest flop was Swept Away, a collaborative effort with his wife. It was universally panned by critics and only added to the strain on their marriage.

Reports of marital difficulties have dogged the couple for about a year. In July, the wife of baseball's highest-paid star, Alex Rodriguez, filed for divorce and blamed Madonna for the collapse of her marriage. Madonna denied any romantic link to the New York Yankees' big-hitting third baseman.

Unravelling the complicated lives of Madonna and Ritchie will require the services of some of the country's top divorce lawyers. She has reportedly instructed Fiona Shackleton, who represented Sir Paul McCartney in his costly split from Heather Mills. At stake is the couple's estimated £300m fortune, which, although mostly built up by Madonna before she married, is expected to be shared between them. Last night, family law experts said the division of the assets would dwarf the £24m handed to Heather Mills, with Ritchie receiving up to £100m.

Apart from their personal multimillion-pound investments, the couple own homes in London, Los Angeles and New York and a 1,200-acre retreat in Wiltshire. A key question will be what value the courts are likely to attach to Ritchie's role in the marriage. Ayesha Vardag, a divorce lawyer, said: "While clearly Madonna has been the bigger hitter, Ritchie has arguably had to take a back seat in his own career in order to back her up and support the family emotionally during her demanding work. The law doesn't discriminate between bread-winner and home-maker. In most circumstances, it does not matter who earned the money if they were married and therefore a team. One way or another, this divorce should result in a huge payout for Ritchie if properly handled."

Madonna could have protected her wealth by asking her husband to sign a pre-nuptial agreement, which would have helped a court limit the value of his claim on the fortune she amassed during her 25-year recording career.

Divorce expert Andrew Newbury, of Manchester-based law firm Pannone, said Ritchie could join a growing band of men who end up claiming assets from their richer wives. He added: "If Guy Ritchie were to instigate proceedings in Britain, recent precedents mean Madonna would be facing the potential of a much larger settlement than, say, if she lived in California."

But like all family breakdowns, there will be a human cost too. The couple have two sons, Rocco, eight, and David Banda, two, a Malawian boy they adopted in 2006. Madonna also has a 12-year-old daughter, Lourdes, from a previous relationship with the personal trainer Carlos Leon.

Although the financial terms of the settlement will make headlines, there will be just as much legal discussion over access to and custody of the children. Lourdes is expected to stay with her mother, but the arrangements for Rocco and David will be just as, if not more, important to the couple as any division of wealth.

Joanna Grandfield, a barrister at Mills & Reeve LLP, said the legal issues would be complicated if Madonna expressed an intention to take the children to the US. "Since they have been raised and educated in the UK, she will need their father's agreement to this, in default of which she will need to apply to the courts," he said. "However, unless he has parental responsibility for Lourdes, he will not be able to influence decisions as to where she will live or be schooled in the way that he can for Rocco and Madonna and his adopted son, David. This exemplifies the difficulties faced by many step-parents on the breakdown of their marriages, be they pop superstars or ordinary men on the street."

Over the past year, the couple seem to have deliberately tried to save their marriage and protect their children. A few weeks ago, they made a very public show of affection in what was seen as a move to end speculation about the marriage. Madonna walked down the red carpet with Ritchie at the London premiere of his latest film, RocknRolla. Wearing a short black Stella McCartney dress with jewels down the front, the singer strode arm-in-arm with her husband and posed for photographs. Before they appeared in Leicester Square, Ritchie stamped on suggestions that his marriage was over with a public show of support at his wife's 50th birthday party.

Madonna's friends said she wanted to wait until the end of her "Sticky and Sweet" world tour in December before announcing the split. But such is the strain on their relationship that both parties now want the divorce finalised before Christmas.

Madonna and Guy: The spoils of fame

MADONNA

*Madonna's personal wealth is estimated to be £300m.

*In 2007, she struck a £60m, 10-year deal with Live Nation Inc, the concert promoter behind the Live 8 events. Hard Candy, her first album released through them sold 100,000 copies on the first day of its UK release.

* Madonna is believed to own the couple's London home, a £7m family townhouse in Marylebone, and a 10-bedroom, £6m property next door.

* She is also believed to own two Manhattan apartments overlooking New York's Central Park worth £2m each.

GUY RICHIE

*Guy Ritchie's contribution is an estimated £20m, which he has earned from his direction work.

* He is thought to own their estate in Wiltshire, Ashcombe House, which has large grounds and worth £10m.

BOTH

*Two mews cottages in London worth £2m each (to house their London staff).

* The £2.5m Punchbowl Pub on Farm St in Mayfair, just along the road from the Jesuits' Church of the Immaculate Conception. Madonna and Ritchie own it with their friends Piers Adams and Nick House – and Prince Harry's friend Guy Pelly.

*A £3.6m building in London's West End used as the headquarters of the Kabbalah sect, and a five-storey, £1.6m house in Regents Park also used by them. The religious movement is loosely affiliated to Judaism.

* A sprawling, two-storey mansion in Beverly Hills, California worth £8m.

* Their collection of cars includes a £47,000 Audi Q7, a £35,000 Mercedes Benz people-carrier and a £58,000 Range Rover.