Mercy James, the latest addition to Madonna's ever-growing brood, is reportedly settling quickly into her new, celebrity life.

As Madonna continues her Sticky and Sweet tour which will see her play in France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Russia, Sweden and many other countries before finishing in Tel Aviv this September (not bad for a fifty year old!), she will be giving little Mercy a crash course in how to be the daughter of a major celebrity.

A struggle from the outset, things now seem to be settling down to normality for 'M and M' - or at least, what will become normality. A fairytale ending, we would imagine, for the little girl who, a month ago, was living a very basic existence in Africa.

In our willingness to believe the Cinderella story, let's not forget that Mercy is still just a four-year-old, whose life has been turned upside down. She is without anything or anyone familiar. In every sense imaginable, her world has changed beyond all recognition. Life doesn't come much plusher than the Ritz Hotel in Paris - Malawi must seem like a very, very long way away.

Whatever Madonna's reasons for fighting so hard to adopt this little girl, we will never really know, but something within her insisted on becoming Mercy's mum. She may have got the job, but it will take a long time and much more than a few fancy hotels for Madonna to become Mercy's mum in the truest sense of the word.

For Madonna and child, let's hope their new life together becomes old and familiar very soon.