Guy Ritchie has branded Madonna "obsessed", saying "the laughs in our life together were long gone," as their divorce proceedings begin. Madonna and Guy, whose nearly eight-year marriage came to an end on Wednesday, are set to divorce by Christmas. Heartbroken director Guy has now admitted to friends how much the pair's love deteriorated in recent months. According to Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper, the RocknRolla filmmaker told friends: "I'm afraid the laughs in our life together were long gone. She's obsessed with her own public image, obsessed with being seen as some kind of global soothsayer. It's silly, she's a pop star. "I just wanted a regular husband and wife thing. But it was always a great song and dance just to do ordinary stuff. "There was a time when she used to have a sense of humour about herself. In the last few years she just got angry. In the end, we had no proper family life at all. We were two different people, living two different lives." Madonna, 50, has hit back claiming Guy, 40, was selfish and put his own interests ahead of his family. According to Britain's The Sun newspaper, the 4 Minutes singer has accused her spouse of refusing to spend his own money, ignored her pleas to spend more time in New York and shunned her faith in the Kabbalah religion. She also says he wouldn't support her emotionally over plans to adopt a second child and increasingly quarrelled about her career eclipsing his own. Guy is "incandescent with rage" over the allegations, branding his wife's faith a "weird religion". A source said: "Guy's initial support and interest in Kabbalah turned to annoyance and hatred. Guy doesn't believe Kabbalah is a religion on a par with Christianity. He thinks a lot of it is hokum - which has infuriated Madonna." Proceedings in the divorce case are said to have already been set in motion with Madonna hiring top lawyer Fiona Shackleton - who previously represented both Prince Charles and Beatles musician Paul McCartney in their divorce battles - and has reportedly already issued Guy with legal papers. It is believed the estranged pair are determined to settle the divorce without the need to go to court. Sources say Guy reluctantly signed a pre-nuptial agreement before the marriage, guaranteeing him only a lump sum payout instead of a share of Madonna's estimated £260-million (about R450-million) fortune, while other sources say he has said wants "not one penny" of her money. The couple, who were first reported to have marriage troubles in June, raise three children together - Lourdes, 12, Madonna's child by dancer Carlos Leon, Rocco, eight, and adopted David Banda, two. It is not clear who will get custody of the children. Source:Tonight