Ritchie is a "Material Guy"

Madonna's friends have nicknamed her husband Material Guy because of his alleged cash demands ahead of their divorce.

The Sun told last week how British film director Guy Ritchie informed lawyers that he wanted “not one penny” from his mega-rich missus as their eight-year marriage ends.

But furious Madge — who had an Eighties hit with Material Girl — insists that in reality he is determined to take her to the cleaners.

And the 50-year-old superstar believes all he was ever after during their marriage was a slice of her almost $600 million fortune.

Queen of Pop Madonna, who famously follows the mystical Jewish religion Kabbalah, told a friend: “I’m totally devastated that Guy’s turned out to be such a gold-digger. I thought we’d been on a spiritual journey together for the past ten years — but obviously I was wrong. He’s just after my money. I’ve worked my ass off for the last 30 years to get what I have, and now this gold-digger wants to take it from me."

“Kabbalah philosophy teaches that you don’t take what you haven’t earned. Well that’s exactly what Guy is doing. He hasn’t earned a penny of it, yet wants to take, take, take. He keeps upping his demands — he just wants more, and more, and more from me. It’s unbelievable.”

It has been reported that 40-year-old Guy — director of hit films Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels — has his own fortune of around $50 million. But pals of Madonna insisted he is a tightwad. One said: “If he’s meant to be worth millions, then Madonna’s never seen a penny of it."

“He’s never contributed towards the running of the family and his son’s schooling. Contrary to the image being projected, Madonna’s been the rock of the family. She’s the one who has the kids with her at all times. They are home-schooled and they go on the road with her.”

Guy’s relations with his wife worsened in August after an incident involving Lourdes, her 12-year-old daughter by a previous relationship with Carlos Leon. The Brit made a comment about the youngster “becoming a woman” after taking her out for lunch.

Lourdes, dubbed Lola by her mother, began crying and refused to speak to Guy afterwards. A pal said: “Guy made a flippant comment that Lola was beginning to grow boobs. She’s at a sensitive age and burst into tears — screaming at Guy for embarrassing her.

“When Lola told her mother she hit the roof. Guy was in the bad books for ages.

“He had a good relationship with Lola, but the more time she spent with her real dad Carlos Leon recently, the more she has grown apart from Guy. He was beginning to find it difficult to deal with her, calling her ‘a little madam’.”

The future of the couple’s children — Lourdes, Rocco (8), and three-year-old David Banda will be another major issue in the divorce.

Recent criticism of Madonna’s parenting skills has hurt her deeply. She prides herself on raising the children properly and is unashamed of being strict with them. The pal said: “The kids are polite, unspoiled and charming — she’s a great mother.

“What is so wrong with her wanting to make sure her kids don’t eat unhealthy foods like sugar and sausages? It’s ridiculous for people to be attacking her for that.”

Madonna intends to get primary custody of the kids — and to move permanently to New York. Guy will get joint custody, but she intends to dig her heels in and make him do the travelling to see them.

The couple, who have a rural retreat in Ashcombe, Wilts, reached an interim agreement in principal for a financial settlement last Friday. Details are still being thrashed out.

Guy’s camp are insisting he is NOT a gold-digger — pointing out that, had he wanted, he could have got more than five times the figure involved. They put that sum at around $60 million of property. But Madonna’s camp disputes the figure — insisting her husband is after much more than that.

One source added: “The divorce is not a done deal yet. Guy will definitely keep Ashcombe and he gets the cash equivalent of all their London properties and the Punchbowl pub, which was always his anyway.

“He’s now seeking to buy an apartment in New York so he can spend time with Rocco, David and Lola.”

The separation has confirmed in Madonna’s mind that it is time to turn her back on England.
She told a friend: “There are lots of things about England that I love, but my husband isn’t one of them.” She insists it was her decision to end the marriage. He says it was his.

Guy has claimed he called time on the couple’s marriage because he was sick of his wife’s obsession with Kabbalah. In a telling interview revealed last night, he shrugged when asked about Madonna and her faith. “I don’t really understand Kabbalah as a religion,” Guy told the TV show Extra at the Toronto International Film Festival last month.

He continued: “I don’t think it’s a religion as far as I’m aware.”

After revealing he planned to make a documentary on Kabbalah, he again shrugged his shoulders when asked if Madonna would be helping him.

Sources added that “Madonna’s friends simply dislike Guy. They hear all her complaints about him and have turned on him in a vicious way. They see him as a boozing Brit who is always hanging about with his mates.”

The Sun, a UK based newspaper, broke a string of world exclusives last week — including news the couple were finally going to announce their divorce in public.

Madonna later took an onstage swipe at Guy, telling fans in Boston, Mass, that her song Miles Away was for the “emotionally retarded”. She repeated the blast in Toronto on Saturday as she began the Canadian leg of her world tour.