

Retna
Forget that "Papa Don't Preach" stuff--what papa really shouldn't be
doing is spilling family secrets to the tabloids.
John Ritchie, dad to
Guy and father-in-law to Madonna, says in an interview with the British magazine
Closer published Tuesday that the super-couple's relationship has been on the
rocks and they are working to salvage their marriage.
The elder Richie, 76, says his son's family relocated to Los Angeles in
February in a last-ditch effort to stay together.
"L.A. seems to have helped them," the retired director told the magazine.
"It's easier for them out there because there is less pressure. They seem to
have left the bumps they were having over here behind them.
"You can never know that things will work, but they do seem to be fitting
into each other more."
Per Papa Richie, his son and daughter-in-law needed to get out of London and
away from the tabloids, which had lasered in on supposed troubles in the
six-year-old marriage, thus making things even worse.
In February, for instance, the British media played up the Material Girl's
failure to mention her director-husband in an acceptance speech at the Brit
Awards. The press suggested her cozy working relationship with her music
producer, Stuart Price, might be the source of marital woe.
Tabloids have also reported that Guy Richie's stint at house-husbanding has
been a source of friction, especially since Madonna's latest project, the
chart-topping Confessions on a Dancefloor, was a worldwide success, while
Richie's latest project, the roundly panned film Revolver, tanked.
"Guy's career is not going well," John Richie said. "His last two films have
flopped, so it's a pressure. But he still believes he has it in him. He has two
more movies in mind to write and he's hoping to get them done in L.A.
"It doesn't bother him that Madonna is so successful, but obviously he wants
to be successful himself."
The move, however, seems to be working, per the intelligence provided by John
Richie.
"They have put everything behind them," he said. "They're able
to go home at night and be together.
The elder Ritchie says that his son, 37, and Madonna, 47, are spending more
time together as a family with their two children, Lourdes, nine, and Rocco,
five.
"They both want to see the children," he continued. "For Guy and Madonna,
their relationship is all about the children now. The kids are really important
and the focal point of their relationship...It's the children that will keep
them together. The children are everything to them."
Whatever the problems, the couple doesn't have much more time to try and
resolve them. Madonna kicks off the U.S. leg of her Confessions tour in Los
Angeles May 21.
"I hope that they still love each other," John Richie said. "But to be
honest, I just don't know that they do."