Madonna’s lawyers are fighting to stop a collection of love letters and intimate photographs being made public at the same time as she tries to make her adoption of a Malawian baby permanent.

The 17 notes and seven Polaroid snaps she sent in the early 1990s to then boyfriend James Albright were recently sold to an investment company specialising in Madonna memorabilia.

Some of the pictures, which the singer took of herself, show her naked in explicit poses.

The collection also includes personal items such as underwear which Madonna apparently sent to Albright during their two-year relationship.

Although she repeatedly posed nude at the time for her controversial coffee-table book, Sex, she is understood to be devastated about the arrival of such items on the market - particularly at such a sensitive time.

The head of Malawi’s child welfare service is about to spend a week with Madonna and her family in London to assess whether they are fit to adopt baby David Banda permanently.

James Albright served as Madonna’s bodyguard from January to July 1992, after which he became romantically involved with her and remained so until 1994.

The letters and notes, all of which come on “Madonna” headed notepaper, were sent by the singer at a time when she was professionally at her most controversial. She had just brought out her Sex book and was about to release a sadomasochisminspired album named Erotica.

The handwritten letters are signed either “Spanky”, apparently a reference to her bedroom preferences at the time, or “Lola’s Mum”, which is understood to refer to the ambition that Madonna had back then to name her first child Lola. Others sign off with pink lipstick kiss marks.

A source at Marquee Capital, which is selling the items, claims that rather that being merely salacious, they actually give a fascinating insight into the singer and the workings of her mind at the time.

“It’s not all about sex. Some of the notes and letters talk of her world falling apart, others talk of her feeling really low and down. She talks of Albright being the best looking guy in the world and that he does not open up enough to her.

Source

Madonna had an unusual backstage demand at the Live Earth concert: make eye contact.

While some stars issue edicts demanding that minions not look them in the eye, the Material Girl startled organizers of the global warming awareness concert by reportedly insisting that anyone who interviewed her backstage at Wembley Stadium was not allowed to look away.

“Eye contact must be maintained at all times,” interviewers were told, according to the London Mirror. “Never look down to check notes — all questions must be memorized or the interview will be terminated.”

“We thought her people were just joking,” a source told the paper. “But it soon became apparent that they were deadly serious.”

Interviewers were also given a list of questions they were not allowed to ask: no inquiries about the state of her marriage to director Guy Ritchie, about their adoption of a Malawian child, or about her religion, Kabbalah.

“She did not want to do any interviews, which I told the Live Earth folks from the start,” Madonna’s rep told The Scoop, adding that she didn’t know about any backstage demands.

Source

Madonna has hit the pavement for a training session in New York with a very familiar face - former lover and father to her first child, Carlos Leon.

The pair split up seven months after the birth of their 10-year-old daughter Lourdes.

While their relationship was fleeting, they have remained on good terms since.

They stepped out together for a jog through Central Park and it proved to be familiar territory for the former couple - they first got together while he was working as her fitness coach.

Source

One word: Boring

Seriously, that is messed up.

WHAT!?