Madonna
- Profession: Singer
- Place/Date of Birth: Michigan USA
- Associated with: Guy Ritchie
The child arrived in the UK with a nanny, a bodyguard and other aides, who avoided reporters at Heathrow and left by another exit.
David was flown out of the African country yesterday after the couple were granted an interim adoption order and the baby was issued with a passport and visa.
The child was put on a private jet from Malawi to South Africa after a Malawian court issued the travel documents.
Madonna and Guy, who returned to Britain ahead of David after their visit last week, had earlier been granted temporary custody of the child for 18 months.
Court challenge to Madonna adoption - Oct 16 2006
Madonna’s hopes of adopting a Malawian child are in danger of being wrecked as a legal challenge is mounted against the move by child protection groups in the country.
The Eye Of the Child, a children’s rights group, said it was seeking "clarification" from the High Court in Lilongwe, the capital city of Malawi, as to how the singer gained preliminary custody of 13-month-old David Banda.
Boniface Mandere, of Eye Of The Child, claimed the legal process had been too short, adding: "I don’t think that the High Court has any information about how Madonna is when it comes to child-rearing. We are concerned that the High Court has taken a short cut and waived the law. We are registering our concern and will seek clarification from the court, after which we will decide what action to take."
A range of aid agencies, child charities and church groups in the impoverished east African country are said to have joined together to try to prevent what they claim are attempts to fast-track the adoption process and sidestep regulations. According to newspaper reports, the legal challenge could mean that Madonna would have to live in Malawi for 18 months if she is determined to make the little boy part of her family.
Madonna’s spokeswoman, Liz Rosenberg, has confirmed the adoption plans, but said David did not leave with Madonna and her husband, Guy Ritchie, on Friday because final legal arrangements were still being made.
Malawian officials also said the child’s departure had been delayed for procedural reasons, and that he was being cared for in the meantime by members of Madonna’s entourage who had stayed behind.
Malawi is one of the world’s poorest countries, devastated by Aids and periodic drought. Malawian officials had indicated earlier that adoption regulations would be eased for Madonna and Ritchie, but refused to elaborate.
David’s father, Yohame Banda, said he was pleased the celebrity couple wanted his son, whose mother died just after childbirth. He said he met them at court during the filing procedures, adding: "They are a lovely couple. She asked me many questions. She and her husband seem happy with David. I am happy for him. Madonna promised me that as the child grows she will bring him back to visit."
Madonna’s charity, Raising Malawi, is setting up an orphan care centre to provide food, education and shelter for up to 4,000 children. It will have projects based on Kabbalah, Judaism’s mystical sect, which counts the 48-year-old singer among its devotees.
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The following year Madonna broke away from Kamins and recorded Holiday which went straight in to the American top 20 and was a hit across Europe. She cemented her raunchy image with Like A Virgin, her first US number one, and Material Girl with it’s iconic video. By this time Madonna was becoming one of the most emulated and best loved artists in the world and she became even more popular thanks to her part in Live Aid and a high profile marriage to Sean Penn.
The pop diva followed up her success with several singles from the True Blue album and turned her hand to acting for the first time in the poorly received A Certain Sacrifice and of course, Desperately Seeking Susan. Her first real flop was alongside her husband in the laughable Shanghai Surprise. Her failure’s in the film department didn’t stop David Mamet from casting her in a Broadway production of Speed the Plow - by this time talent or no, Madonna’s was name that guaranteed attention.
1989 saw the singer court controversy with the video for Like A Prayer, featuring a black Jesus, which outraged and shocked the Catholic church and caused Pepsi to cancel a sponsorship deal. But far from ruining her career, this stunt saw her become the icon that we know today. The 1990s were the pinnacle of Madonna’s success, her divorce from Sean Penn pushing her further in to the lime light, beginning with a part in Dick Tracy opposite Warren Beatty and a fantastic soundtrack album alongside featuring hit song Vogue. Documentary film Truth or Dare and her Blonde Ambition tour (with that pointy bra) followed with further controversy.
In 1992 she signed a multi million pound deal with Time Warner guaranteeing the release of music, films and books through her own record label, Maverick. She made the most of the deal with picture book Sex, which caused another controversy but rocketed up the bestsellers charts nonetheless. Erotica was her first album for years though not to generate a US number one. People thought that perhaps Madonna had gone too far with her need to shock, and perhaps she had realised it too as her next album was far mellower and a part in Evita in 1996 made her bankable again.
Later that year she fell pregnant with Lourdes Maria Ciccone Leon, daughter of her personal trainer. But far from slowing her work, having a child only seemed to spur Madonna on, she released the runaway success, Ray of Light which produced hit after hit and recorded Beautiful Stranger for the second Austin Powers movie. she also starred alongside Rupert Everett in romantic comedy The Next Best Thing.
It was around this time that Madonna met British director Guy Ritchie - the man who would change her life. They had son Rocco in 2000 and they married in 2002 after Madonna moved permanently to England, took to wearing flat caps and drinking tea. The title track of her album Music gave her a transatlantic number one hit. Collaborations with Ritchie, especially their film Swept Away, have generally been unsuccessful but Madonna’s music career continues to go from strength to strength, her latest album American Life has been a worldwide hit and she has even found time to pen a children’s book, The English Roses. Now, an honorary Brit and devout follower of Kaballah, Madonna lives with her family in Marylebone and Wiltshire. She also owns a ?4 million Spanish-style villa in Beverly Hills, a house in Miami and a duplex overlooking Central Park in New York.
(Updated April 04)
November 2007