Madonna and Guy consult divorce lawyers

The endless speculation about the state of Guy Ritchie and Madonna's marriage – if reports are to be believed it is all but over – has moved up a gear. According to today's Times, the singer has decided to seek legal advice from Fiona Shackleton, the divorce lawyer who ensured that Sir Paul McCartney retained all but £24.3m of his £825m fortune. Meanwhile, Ritchie is said to be consulting with a lesser-known Mayfair firm, Forsters.

So is it over? Madonna, 49, refuses to comment on the matter. Nor would Ritchie, 39. However, if the couple, who were married in 2000 and have one child, Rocco, as well as an adopted Malawian child, David Banda, were to split, there would be a lot at stake. Madonna is said to have amassed £300m during her 25-year career in pop music. The couple have a property portfolio that includes six properties in central London as well as the 1,200-acre Ashcombe estate in Wiltshire, which they bought for £9 million in 2001.

No wonder then that the singer would choose to enlist Shackleton, who is known as the "Steel Magnolia" due to her tough but strategic negotiation technique.  ·