MADONNA’S former nanny is planning to publish a memoir telling the secrets of the pop star’s marriage, her children and her participation in the Kabbalah sect.

Melissa Dumas has reportedly sent an 80-page pitch to a group of publishers for consideration. It includes photographs of Madonna’s family and will touch on her controversial adoption of a Malawian boy last autumn.

Dumas, however, faces significant legal hurdles if she tries to publish the book in Britain. Celebrities in the UK enjoy far more protection for their privacy than in America.

The law began to tighten in 2004, when Princess Caroline of Monaco won a ruling in the European Court of Human Rights after complaining about being photographed while shopping. The court said she had a right to privacy, regardless of whether they showed anything considered intimate.

In Britain, the Court of Appeal last December upheld a ruling in favour of Loreena McKennitt, a Canadian singer, who objected to details in a book about her by a former friend, Niema Ash. While the biography was not critical, the court found large sections of it infringed on the singer’s privacy, stopping publication.

Dumas’ attempt to publish her story emerged on ew.com, the website of the American magazine Entertainment Weekly. The story was reportedly confirmed by a California literary agent, Sharlene Martin of Martin Literary Management.

The report says Dumas had pitched sample chapters and summaries, providing a detailed insight into Madonna’s life with her husband Guy Ritchie and her three children, Lourdes, 10, Rocco, 6, and the Malawian baby, David Banda.

The pitch includes pictures of the family and of Dumas playing with the children. It also claims to reveal Madonna’s motivation for adopting 18-month-old David.

The pitch includes a copy of an unsigned nondisclosure agreement, which Dumas claims Madonna gave her only after she had resigned.

It is not known exactly when Dumas worked for Madonna.

There is speculation that the book rights have been bought by Crown Publishing, a division of Random House.

A spokesman for Madonna was unavailable for comment.

Dumas is the latest in a line of nannies to try to reveal the secrets of high-profile employers. In 2000 Tony and Cherie Blair took legal action to stop Ros Mark, their nanny, publishing a book about their life.

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