According to DailyMail.com, Ritchie filed a motion in their divorce case asking for the "enforcement or execution of a judgment or order" at the Manhattan Supreme Court on Monday.

The couple finalised its split in 2008 but any disputes related to their children Rocco, 19, and David, 14, are dealt with by the New York court.

Judge Deborah Kaplan, who is overseeing the case, is yet to rule on the motion.

Christmas was the cause of a previous dispute between Madonna and her ex, after they argued over where Rocco would spend Christmas back in 2015.

Judge Kaplan ordered their son to return from London, where he was living with the filmmaker, to New York for Christmas, but he refused, resulting in a long custody battle that was eventually resolved in September 2016, with Rocco remaining with his dad.

It is not known if the new legal flare-up is over a similar matter.

The Material Girl hitmaker will be heading to the U.K. herself next month, as she's due to begin a residency at the London Palladium on 27 January.