The couple - who are currently on their joint 'On The Run' world tour - are said to be working out a way to break up without divorcing following the final dates of tour in Paris this December and have already removed their wedding rings.

A source told The New York Post's Page Six: "There are no rings, if you haven't noticed. They are trying to figure out a way to split without divorcing ... This is a huge concert tour and they've already got most of the money from the promoters up front."

The source added that the tour will be the last for Jay-Z, 44, and Beyoncé, 32, after marriage counsellors failed to help them get their relationship back on track.

It is believed the couple - who have a two-year-old daughter, Blue Ivy - thought having their first child would bring them closer again but they soon started to go their separate ways.

The source explained: "For just a split moment, things got real for them and she was even talking about adding to the family. But, after a while, Jay was out doing Jay and Bey was out doing Bey.

They made the classic mistake of thinking a child would change everything and help to rekindle the initial fire, and it didn't."

The news comes just two months after Beyoncé's sister Solange Knowles was seen attacking Jay-Z in a leaked security footage from an elevator as the trio made their way out of a Met Ball after-party in New York.