District Judge Caroline Reid pronounced the decree nisi in the 'quickie', or uncontested, divorce at the family division of the High Court in London.

The case, listed as Ciccone M L v Ritchie G S, was among 17 cases read out by a court clerk.

Judge Reid then asked if anyone wished to show cause against the decrees, or raise the question of costs, before saying: 'I therefore pronounce the decrees.'

Neither Madonna nor Ritchie attended the hearing, which lasted barely a minute, something they are not required to do under British law.

Madonna, 50, and Ritchie, 40, announced in mid-October that they were to divorce nearly eight years after they married in a lavish ceremony at a Scottish castle in Dec 2000.

The couple have an eight-year-old son, Rocco, and a three-year-old son adopted in Malawi, David Banda. Madonna also has a daughter, 12-year-old Lourdes, by her former fitness trainer Carlos Leon. -- AFP