(CNN) -- Pop star Madonna and her film director husband Guy Ritchie are to divorce, Madonna's UK spokeswoman, Moira Bellas, confirmed to CNN. Guy Ritchie and Madonna arrive at the world premiere afterparty of his movie RocknRolla in September. more photos ? A statement e-mailed to The Associated Press from Madonna spokeswoman Liz Rosenberg says the couple has agreed to divorce, and asks the media to respect their privacy. The statement, co-signed by Ritchie's representative, says the couple had not agreed to a settlement. The Sun newspaper -- a British tabloid -- first reported Wednesday that the couple would announce the split imminently. Ritchie, 40, and Madonna married seven years ago at a lavish ceremony in Scotland, but rumors have been circulating in the press recently that their relationship was increasingly under strain. No prenuptial agreement for Madonna ? Earlier this year, the singer denied being involved romantically with New York Yankees baseball player Alex Rodriguez. Rodriguez was eventually divorced from his wife. The last time the couple was seen together in public was in September, when Madonna took a break from touring to celebrate her husband's birthday at a London pub. A recent escalation in rows led to Madonna and Ritchie communicating via their personal assistants, The Sun reported. "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," The Sun, quoting a source, reported. Don't Miss Rock 'n' roll Ritchie People magazine archive: The dream wedding The couple have two children together -- Rocco, 8, and David, 3, adopted from Malawi in 2006. Madonna also has a daughter, Lourdes, 12, from a previous relationship with dancer Carlos Leon. Madonna, who turned 50 earlier this year, was previously married to U.S. actor Sean Penn from 1985 to 1989. The British Press Association said that Ritchie has broken off from filming in France to fly back to the UK to inform his parents of the split. Ritchie made his name with 1998's "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels," a London gangster movie hailed by critics, who called him the British version of U.S. director Quentin Tarantino. He continued the successful directing style with "Snatch" and "Revolver," but he bombed with "Swept Away" in 2002, which featured his wife. The deserted-island story grossed just $600,000 and was pulled from theaters after three weeks. His latest film is "RocknRolla," currently showing in London, New York, Los Angeles, and Toronto, is set for release across the U.S on October 31. According to The Sun, Madonna had wanted to wait until the end of her Sticky and Sweet global tour before announcing the news. But the date has now been brought forward with both parties wanting a divorce finalized before Christmas, it reported. However, divorce lawyer Jeremy Abraham told CNN that such a swift resolution would be unlikely. Watch more about the couple's problems ? "By my calculations, the earliest it's likely they could be divorced is the middle of February next year," he said. With Madonna worth hundreds of millions of dollars, Abraham added that he hoped the couple would be instituting an agreed plan to separate, rather than following the "Mills-McCartney nightmare" and fighting for a financial settlement through the courts. After an acrimonious separation from Paul McCartney, Heather Mills was awarded a settlement of almost $50 million in March this year. http://edition.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/10/15/madonna.divorce/index.html?iref=mpstoryview --

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