Snide comments on Madonna's 'rare' display of her wedding ring

The London Metro's Guilty Pleasures section can provide some entertainment on the long and meandering route to work, but very occasionally the nature of its reporting does leave a bit of a bitter taste in the mouth.

This morning, it was all about Madonna's alleged marriage woes. Her publicists have been forced to make a public statement that she 'rarely' wears her wedding ring anyway, in response to reports that the lack of bling means the marriage is on the rocks. It's a pretty ridiculous thing to have to talk about anyway, but Metro's response of "Oh, well, that's alright then" really got up my nose.

Because, yes, Metro, it is alright. Why should whether or not a woman wears a ring have any bearing on the relative health of her relationship? I choose to wear my engagement ring all the time unless I'm in a situation where I could lose it - I took it off when I went to the beach, for example. My mother, on the other hand, hasn't worn her ring in 35 of the 37 years she's been married. She removed it because it irritated her to have something on her hand when she was trying to do chores, and never bothered to put it back on. My father never got in the habit of wearing it in the first place and still doesn't. (They're still married, by the way).

Ex-Dollymix Editor Cate Sevilla never wore a wedding or engagement ring but I know from firsthand observation that her marriage is as solid as any you could ask for. Other people I know have swung back and forth between wearing their rings and not based on whether they felt like it, whether it matched their outfit and whether they were general fans of jewellery.

I don't think I need further examples to make my point; it's pretty clear that the state of your ring finger has absolutely no bearing on the state of your marriage, and I'd insist on that even if Madge does file divorce papers this week.

Alexandra Roumbas is a writer and editor living in London. She hopes Metro is back to its usual self tomorrow morning.

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