Guy Ritchie visits Madonna's London home with son Rocco as couple seek to 'heal wounds' in custody battle

Their bitter row over the future of their 15-year-old son has resulted in a very public trans-Atlantic custody battle.

Guy Richie and Madonna attend the world premiere of <i>RocknRolla</i> at Odeon West End on September 1, 2008 in London, ...

Guy Richie and Madonna attend the world premiere of RocknRolla at Odeon West End on September 1, 2008 in London, England. Photo: Getty

But it seems that Madonna and Guy Ritchie are working to build bridges following a series of court hearings about the future of their sonRocco.

In a signal the bitter custody wrangle is being smoothed over, film director Ritchie has been pictured visiting his ex-wife's London home.

Guy Ritchie and Rocco Ritchie attend <i>The Man From U.N.C.L.E.</i> New York Premiere - Inside Arrivals at Ziegfeld ...

Guy Ritchie and Rocco Ritchie attend The Man From U.N.C.L.E. New York Premiere - Inside Arrivals at Ziegfeld Theater on August 10, 2015 in New York City. Photo: Getty

A Hight Court judge had previously warned the former celebrity couple that they risk "ruining" Rocco's childhood with their ongoing feud.

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Ritchie, the 47-year-old producer, was photographed arriving at the pop star's home in the capital on Wednesday night.

He is believed to have been accompanied by Rocco as he arrived on his bicycle, before emerging from the property some time later.

The visit came days after Rocco was finally reunited with his mother after the singer flew to London.

The teenager's arrival at the weekend indicated Madonna was attempting to fulfil a pledge made in court last month to "heal the wounds" in her family.

The teenager was dropped off by Mr Ritchie, driving a Land Rover Discovery 4x4, alongside his new wife Jacqui Ainsley at Madonna's imposing residence in west London.

Madonna and Mr Ritchie were urged by a High Court judge last month to avoid taking up any more of the "fast receding days" of their son's childhood with legal action, as he pleaded with them to settle their battle out of court.

At the weekend, Rocco, arrived carrying a skateboard and spent two hours at the property. He left with a group of skateboarding friends.

Madonna - dressed in a black bomber jacket and trousers, black baseball cap and Aviator-style sunglasses - later emerged on a silver mountain bike.

Appearing in good spirits, the singer went cycling with two men thought to be her personal security guards.

Judges heard that Rocco had remained in London with his father since last autumn following a visit.

Madonna - one of the world's most influential pop stars since the early 1980s - wanted the teenager to return to live with her in the US.

Mr Justice MacDonald last month said the pop star and her former husband should attempt to find an "amicable resolution" to the dispute, which had seen legal action on both sides of the Atlantic.

The London ruling meant the dispute over Rocco's future would be resolved either in the New York court or by family conciliation.

The singer was listed under her full name - Madonna Louise Ciccone - on court papers in London.

At the hearing in London in March, Mr Justice MacDonald said: "I renew, one final time, my plea for both parents to seek and to find an amicable resolution to the dispute between them.

"As I observed during the course of the hearing, summer does not last forever. The boy very quickly becomes the man.

"It would be a very great tragedy for Rocco if any more of the previous and fast receding days of his childhood were to be taken up by this dispute."

In a 22-page written ruling, the judge added: "Far better for each of his parents to spend that time enjoying, in turn, the company of the mature, articulate and reflective young man who is their son and who is a very great credit to them both."

Madonna lodged a claim under child abduction laws against Mr Ritchie, the British film director, in December last year.

Earlier this month, it emerged she had applied to withdraw that legal action - but Mr Ritchie's legal team opposed the move, indicating the film director wished to see the matter resolved in Britain rather than America.

Mr Justice MacDonald said the "root of these proceedings" was a "temporary breakdown in trust" between the parents.

"For all the media coverage, comment and analysis, this is a case born out of circumstances that arise for countless separated parents the world over," the ruling said.

"The court should always be the option of last resort when parents cannot agree matters in respect of their children."

He added that both he and Manhattan judge Deborah Kaplan had "repeatedly urged the parties to adopt a consensual approach to resolving these matters of dispute between them for the benefit of Rocco".

Rocco and Mr Ritchie attended hearings in London, but Madonna was not present. The singer's lawyers told the judge she wanted to attend but was on tour in Australia.

Revealing the 57-year-old pop star's hopes for the future at a private hearing in the Family Division, David Williams QC said his client wanted to "heal the wounds".

"She doesn't wish for these proceedings in England to continue any longer than necessary," the QC said.

"What she has always sought to date is to find a way in which this family can come together to heal the wounds which have been inflicted on the family in the past four months or so.

"She wants to chart a course for Rocco and the family to help put this behind them and restore peace to the family."

Mr Ritchie, who is currently directing Knights of the Round Table: King Arthur , starring Jude Law, married Ms Ainsley, a model, last summer.

The Telegraph, London