Rocco Ritchie will realise he misses mum Madonna now he’s moving to London with dad Guy Ritchie
It's a rare occasion Madonna can't control everything in her life, but she was wise not to let the custody battle go on further
MADONNA is known to be the ultimate control freak.
She likes to be in charge of all aspects of her career and I bet she knows exactly how much it costs to stage one of her mammoth tours, as well as the precise revenue, right down to the last dime.
She’s a woman who has spent decades at the top of her game. An admirable, if somewhat scary, figure who has worked her butt off with endless hours of tough exercise regimes that would make even a squaddie whimper.
Most things bend to her will, even Father Time.
Madonna might well have had a bit of assistance but she still looks at least a decade younger than her 58 years.
There’s much to admire but headlines about her custody battle with ex-husband Guy Ritchie over their teenage son Rocco left a bad taste.
Seeing troubled Rocco, who was 15 at the time, dragged into the limelight was deeply uncomfortable. It was sad to watch the relationship between mother and son unravel.
For once, Madonna was unable to control the situation. She couldn’t snap her fingers and get a lackey to sort it out, or make her son obey her through sheer determination to have her own way.
Rocco told her in no uncertain terms he wanted to stay with his dad, effectively choosing him over his mum. It must have been devastating.
Madonna is used to seeing her private life splashed all over the papers but it is usually on her terms.
She is an expert in manipulating the media and generating shock and scandal.
But that was always with a means to an end — and she has cannily kept one step ahead of the game.
This time she was blindsided by one of the people she loves most in all the world.
Madonna might be an unconventional mum but she loves her kids dearly.
Being told by her son that he no longer wants to live with her would have scalded her heart.
He’s probably one of the very few people who can stand up to her, along with his big sister Lourdes, who appears to have a very good relationship with her mum, and has grown up into a beautiful and well-balanced young woman.
The other children are still too small to rebel, but Rocco made up his own mind to stay in London with his father.
Some speculate that he became fed up following his mother around during her world tour, and that he found photos and comments she posted about him on Instagram highly embarrassing.
No one knows for sure, but teenagers do have fights and arguments with their parents all the time, even when the mother in question is one of the most famous women in the world.
This week I am glad to say that a settlement was reached without the need to go to court and Rocco has been granted his wish to stay with his dad.
It will have been a bitter pill for Madonna, but both she and her ex-husband are to be commended for sorting things out in a civilised fashion behind closed doors.
Legal proceedings would have been extremely damaging for all of them, but especially for Rocco, and Madonna could have lost her son for ever.
Instead, she has been slowly building bridges with him and has shown herself to be a wise woman.
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And she should ponder this. Giving a teenager what they think they want can often work the other way.
Living apart from his mum might make Rocco realise just how much he misses her and it could actually improve things between them.
She’s already made a good start to repair the breach.
If she is patient and keeps the lines of communication open, she could find her boy coming back to her and Madonna and child reunited.
Time to end this vile dog torture
THE barbaric Chinese practice of boiling dogs alive has been hitting the headlines and condemned worldwide this week.
In some parts of China, marketplaces are filled with the sounds and smells of these poor, terrified animals being thrown into pots of boiling water. Their agony is unimaginable.
As they scrabble to escape, two men grimly hold a lid down until the dogs are dead. It can take some time.
The animals are killed for their meat and those who eat dog believe that the more pain the animal suffers, the tastier it is.
So they are thrown into woks and cooking pots and have their fur removed by blowtorches while they are still alive and breathing.
Videos taken by animal welfare charities are stomach-churning but are necessary if anything is to be done to stop this.
Meanwhile it has emerged this week that plane loads of Chinese tourists and business people are being warned against visiting parts of London “mainly populated by Indians, Pakistanis and black people” and to take safety precautions.
This racism appears in Air China’s in-flight magazine and it is shocking that in this day and age such ignorant statements are being printed in a publication aimed at those travelling to the UK.
If a sophisticated airline can sanction such material to be printed and circulated, you do wonder how long it will take to eradicate the appalling treatment of dogs and other animals being carried out in China every single day.
Thankfully there are Chinese people, especially the young, who are bravely speaking up against this cruelty.
Charities here are doing a fine job but real change can only come from within.
Nice cup of Rosie
I HAD a lovely chat with Brooke Vincent who plays Sophie Webster in Corrie, and we both agreed that it’s high time the show brought back her big sister Rosie, who is an endless source of amusement.
Poor Rosie was so thick that light has to bend around her, but she could also be very endearing.
And now that mum Sally and stepdad Tim have taken over the Duckworths’ role as Corrie's comic relief, Rosie would be very welcome as another fabulous source of fun.
In real life, actress Helen Flanagan is now a mum and her footballer boyfriend Scott Sinclair plays in Scotland for Celtic, but surely she could parachute in for the occasional appearance.
Time for our awesome Aidan to have the snip
HE’S back in the saddle and riding across the Cornish cliffs with the wind in his hair and a scowl on his face.
Poldark has returned – and now poor Captain Ross finds himself accused of murder.
I’ve read the books and watched the original Seventies series on VHS, so I don’t think we will be seeing him on the end of a hangman’s noose anytime soon.
But it’s still riveting stuff. And big congrats to the hugely talented and ridiculously good-looking Aidan Turner, who plays Captain Ross and won Best Actor at this week’s GQ awards.
Only one quibble. I feel I need to take issue with his hairstyle.
Not even Aidan can carry off a man-bun.
And, if it wasn’t for the restraining order, I would dearly love to get a big pair of shears and snip it right off.
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Swift end to Tom's rom-com
I NEVER did buy into the whole “whirlwind romance” between Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston.
It was all too quick, too public and too perfect.
Those photos of them walking hand in hand on the beach, Tom wearing a T-shirt declaring his love, then Taylor meeting his mum all looked more like scenes from a rom-com than real life.
I have no doubt they genuinely fell for each other and fancied the pants off one another, but this coupling was never going to fly.
Taylor is a woman who knows her own mind and will move on quickly and efficiently, but poor Tom is left with his reputation as a sex symbol somewhat battered and tarnished – and his chances of being the next James Bond look remote.
For the fashion-conscious and not so safety-conscious
THERE is a business in the US that makes clothing for the discerning lady gun- owner who likes to be discreet about carrying a weapon that can kill.
It seems there is a thriving market for fashion accessories that conceal your weapon.
Heaven forbid the line of your jacket is ruined by the bulge of your shotgun.
I’m sure they come in pretty shades of pastel pink, or maybe bright crimson to hide the blood stains.