LONDON, Nov 21, 2008 (AFP) - Pop megastar Madonna and her British husband Guy Ritchie were granted a "quickie" divorce on Friday, barely a month after announcing the end of their nearly eight-year marriage.

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

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 December 2000.

The divorce confirmation came after press reports suggested the couple had agreed a deal under which Ritchie will receive very little money.

He expressed relief at the speed of the divorce and stressed that money had never been an issue, according to the Daily Mirror on Friday.

"Thank God. It dragged on much too long and that had nothing to do with me. But it was never ever about money," the paper quoted Ritchie as saying.

According to The Times newspaper, Madonna will "keep the bulk" of her 300-million-pound (440-million-dollar, 350-million-euro) fortune, after they resolved the main stumbling block over where the children will live.

Their two sons will share their time between homes in Britain and the United States, it reported, adding that Madonna had wanted all her children to live with her in New York.

Her daughter will live with the singer, the Evening Standard newspaper reported.

Ritchie's fortune is estimated at some 30 million pounds, it said, adding that under British divorce laws he could have sought up to 50 percent of Madonna's money.

In Britain, the couple have several properties and a stake in a pub in London, plus their Ashcombe House country estate.

In the United States, they own apartments in New York, plus a palatial mansion in Beverly Hills, California.

By agreeing a "quickie" divorce deal, the couple will avoid a high-profile, big money split like that of Beatles legend Paul McCartney and ex-model Heather Mills earlier this year.

Madonna is widely regarded as the world's highest-earning female singer, with Forbes.com putting her atop its "Cash Queens of Music" with earnings of 72 million dollars between June 2006 and June 2007.

The Sun newspaper, which broke the story of their divorce last month, alleged that Madonna thought he was lazy, tightfisted and preferred the pub to his family, while Ritchie allegedly thought she was a control freak obsessed with her Kabbalah faith.

Madonna -- her full name is Madonna Louise Ciccone -- was previously married to US actor Sean Penn.