I’ve always thought of Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne as an institution and a relatively solid example of marriage. Their MTV reality show, “The Osbournes,” left them relatively unscathed as a couple even if it did seriously damage my opinion of Ozzy as a badass and “the prince of f—ing darkness.” These days, Sharon is so busy with her television career that they rarely step out in public together. Ozzy has seemed pretty content to slip into obscurity for the past handful of years, but he’s currently preparing for a Black Sabbath reunion tour. Somehow, they did both make it to last October’s Seven Psychopaths premiere and walked the red carpet together.

Unfortunately, there’s a new article in the Sun that arrives with new photos of Sharon and Ozzy separate and newly ringless whereas slightly older photos that I’ve included here show Ozzy wearing his wedding ring. In addition, the Sun has done some detective work and determined that Sharon and Ozzy have not only moved out of their marital home (after selling it to Jessica Simpson) but have taken up separate residences in Los Angeles. Ozzy’s currently living in a rented mansion while Sharon’s been living in a hotel a few miles away, and the Sun has also talked to some “friends” of the couple who say that they are not speaking to each other or seeing each other at all. Are the Osbournes really separated and heading for divorce?

Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne are living separate lives, The Sun can reveal — and pals now fear for their marriage. Rocker Ozzy, 64, has moved into a rented mansion. Sharon, 60, is in a hotel while her new home is renovated two miles away in Beverly Hills. And last night straight-talking Sharon — who has had a double mastectomy — revealed: “He is getting on my new tits.”

In the past week Sharon and rock idol Ozzy have both been spotted without their wedding rings. And the celebrity couple — married for 31 years — have not seen each other for three weeks. They have moved out of their marital home and are now living two miles apart in Beverly Hills, California.

Ozzy, 64, is in a rented mansion and Sharon, 60, is staying in a plush hotel while having a new six-bedroom property in the city redecorated. Removal trucks have been spotted at both homes. Friends described the arrangement as “highly unusual” for a couple known for being so close. One said: “They are living at different addresses and not spending any time together. They row a lot. They aren’t acting like husband and wife. It is unusual to not even have dinner together when both of them are five minutes apart.”

Last Sunday, Sharon was snapped without her wedding ring on as she went for lunch with daughter Kelly, 28, at Hollywood’s Ivy restaurant. Two days later Ozzy’s ring finger was bare as he filmed a cameo for US television show CSI with his Black Sabbath bandmates in LA.

Their relationship will be put under further strain as he jets off on tour to Australia and New Zealand this week — while Sharon is set to spend increasing amounts of time in England if her return to the “X Factor” judging panel is confirmed. Sharon returned to LA at the end of March after a two-week trip to London. Since then she has gone back to her job on daytime TV show “The Talk” and seen Kelly — but has seemingly spent no time with Ozzy.

On April 4 she was photographed leaving the five-star Beverly Hills Hotel and setting off for the studio in her black Range Rover. She has been spotted leaving the same hotel every morning and returning each night since. Her assistants’ cars have been spotted parked on the street outside.

Ozzy, meanwhile, has been hanging out at his rented house with his guitarist pal Billy Morrison and spending hours in the studio with his Black Sabbath bandmates. Sharon has only visited the house once this month — when her husband was rehearsing 13 miles away. The next day — Friday April 5 — she visited the recording studio, but on a day Ozzy was not there. The studio also houses a storage facility and removal trucks were seen going in and out before dropping items at Sharon’s home.

Up until January, Sharon and Ozzy lived together in a £8.5 million mansion in Hidden Hills — about 25 miles north-west of LA. They sold it to country singer Jessica Simpson. This month Sharon has spent a number of afternoons at her new property. Removal vans have delivered chairs, tables, plants and garden furniture. Kitchen appliance specialists and an intercom company have also been spotted outside.

While Sharon was still in London, a removal truck was also spotted outside the house where Ozzy is staying. Workers were snapped carrying cabinets, photographs and mirrors into the five-bedroom pad. Last Sunday, as Sharon dined with Kelly, Ozzy paid a solo visit to their son Jack, 27, in Los Feliz.

Looking smart in a suit, T-shirt and his trademark tinted glasses, Ozzy stopped off to pick up a bouquet of flowers. Later that day a cryptic tweet from Kelly read: “Why does every family in the world have that 1 member that will never get it and is completely ignorant to life in general?”

On Wednesday during a live Twitter chat with fans, Sharon told one: “I’ve had a really tough yr & I ask myself the same question, how I can get up every day & smile.”

[From The Sun]

Certainly, the Osbournes are a family who have been through a lot of trauma over the past few years with Sharon enduring a double masectomy, Jack being dignosed with multiple sclerosis, and Kelly collapsing from a seizure on a television set. They’ve also been through so much in the past together with Ozzy’s substance abuse problems, rehab visits, and other assorted flotsam. I hope this story somehow isn’t true, but it sounds pretty solid considering the photo evidence and proof of separate residences two miles apart. Why else would Sharon stay in a hotel while Ozzy rents himself a new house all alone? Strange.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN