London, January 13 : Emma Thompson has revealed that she knew what Madonna meant when the latter publicly called her former hubby Guy Ritchie as "emotionally retarded", since she faced similar troubles with her actor-spouse, Greg Wise.

The Oscar-winning actress confessed that she initially had been taken aback by Madonna's swipe at Guy in front of thousands of fans at a Boston gig.

However, the Brit comedian admitted her fellow artist did strike a familiar chord on her views about British men.

"I felt very badly for British men when she said that," the Daily Star quoted her as saying.

"I thought, ''Well, it''s not across the board, but it is true that an awful lot of them are a bit kind of closed down.''"

She added: "I blame the class system, which resulted in two centuries of the most appalling parenting you could possibly imagine, with children being sent away to school at a very young age, which is a very odd habit when you think about it...

"I know that my father was quite reserved with his emotions. And so is my husband, too. I''ve been with him for 14 years now, and it''s sort of like living with a clam. I try and try and try to open the shell, and, yes, after all these years, I have managed to get it very slightly open - and then, sometimes, it shuts again and I have to start all over again.

"Don''t get me wrong, I''m fine with it, and very happily married. But it is the way it is." (ANI)