MADONNA smiles for the cameras on her first public night out since her bid to adopt Malawian child MERCY JAMES was denied.
The singer donned her best glad rags for dinner with her fashion designer pal STELLA McCARTNEY at Cecconi's restaurant in London on Monday.
Judging by the change of events in the last 24 hours the pair had lots to talk about.
The sighting of Madge - sporting a bizarre red scratch on her arm - coincided with reports the adoption bid has been boosted after the girl’s family said they are still strongly backing the star.
The singer was 'devastated' saying a tearful farewell to the four-year-old on Sunday after a judge rejected Madonna's wish to take the tot home with her.
Now Mercy must wait at the Kondanani Children’s Village until an appeal takes place after Madonna returned to London with Lourdes, 12, Rocco, eight, and adoptive son David, three.
Mercy’s uncle Peter Baneti has revealed they will fight any custody attempts by James Kambewa, 24, who claims to be the child's biological father.
Peter, who signed the adoption papers to let Madonna take the girl, said: “This is an insult. This man didn’t care about his girlfriend, Mercy’s mother, when she needed him most. He didn’t even come to see his baby.”
"We don’t even know if he bothered to find out if he had a child or what had happened to his girlfriend, who has since died.”
He said the family had all supported the adoption including Mercy’s grandmother Lucy Chekechiwa, who helped deliver Mercy and had to watch her daughter die after childbirth.
Mercy’s other uncle, John Ngalande, said the family cannot accept Mercy’s biological father now after he abandoned her before she was born.
He said the family did not even have enough information to say whether James Kambewa was really the dad.
“We just heard from Mercy’s mum Mwandida that she was made pregnant by a boy called James, that’s why she was named Chifundo James,” he said.
“This boy completely denied responsibility over the pregnancy. He said he had nothing to do with the pregnancy, why should he come out of the woodwork now? Because she is now famous around the world? We hear that boy is a crook, he loves money and he thinks there is money involved in all this. We won’t let him near our niece.
“If he was caring enough he should have attempted to take care of the baby, especially when Mwandida died. He should have had the nerve to apologise to the family before making these wide claims.”
Madonna's lawyer Alan Chinula described the judgment as “incomprehensible”, saying the same court had approved her adoption of David Banda in 2006.
He said they were appealing the decision in Malawi's Supreme Court, and believed he had a good chance of winning.
James Kambewa, who now works as a security guard for Television Malawi claimed to be the biological father of Mercy after he was tracked down at the weekend.
He said he and his girlfriend, then 15-year-old Mwandida Maunde, were in secondary school in the eastern town of Thondwe in Zomba district when she became pregnant.
“Her clan was mad with me. They accused me of destroying their daughter’s future,” he said. “They forced me out of town because of the pressure they were exerting on me.”
Mercy’s grandmother Lucy initially opposed to Madonna’s bid to adopt Mercy but she later changed her mind after months of negotiations by government officials and Raising Malawi, the charity Madonna set up for her Malawi causes.
James Kambewa has since asked for “some days off” to consult his own family in Thondwe on the way forward.
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