The African baby pop star Madonna is trying to adopt arrived in London today - to be greeted by the world's media.
Last week, 13-month-old David Banda was living in an orphanage in poverty-stricken Malawi.
This morning he was whisked through Heathrow airport by the singer's aides, his head covered, as photographers sought to get a glimpse of the youngster after he arrived on an overnight flight from Johannesburg.
He was then apparently driven through rush-hour traffic to the star's luxury home near London's Marble Arch - where more photographers were waiting.
Adoption experts said Madonna and her film director husband Guy Ritchie would now face a rigorous process of checks before David can be formally adopted.
The child arrived in the UK accompanied by a nanny, a bodyguard and other aides, who avoided waiting reporters at Heathrow's Terminal 1 arrivals hall 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 Ritchie, who returned to Britain ahead of David after their high-profile visit last week, had earlier been granted temporary custody of the child for 18 months, the singer's spokeswoman confirmed.
Liz Rosenberg, said last night: "It is expected that the family will be reunited within the next few days.
"The interim adoption grants David's new parents temporary custody for 18 months, during which time they will be evaluated by the courts of Malawi per the tribal customs of the country."
Madonna left Malawi on Friday following a week-long visit to orphanages there.
On the same day human rights groups in the country filed court documents asking a judge to review the adoption amid claims it had been fast-tracked because of her celebrity.
An immigration official at Malawi's Lilongwe Airport said David had been issued with a US visa and left the country accompanied by two Britons and two Americans.
One of the Americans listed her occupation as a nanny.
Human rights groups claim the authorities may be bending the rules in return for the singer pledging three million US dollars to help children in Malawi, one of the world's poorest countries.
Boniface Mandere, of Eye Of The Child, a local child protection society involved in the challenge, said: "The court seems to have made a decision based on Madonna's wealth.
"But being a good parent is not about money - it is about caring, having heart, it's about love.
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Malawi law requires would-be parents to live in the country for a year while social welfare officers investigate their ability to care for the child.
Foreigners are not allowed to adopt children. But these rules appear to have been waived in Madonna's case.
Half a million children in the country have been orphaned by Aids.
Yet David is not an orphan - his father gave him up because he was unable to care for him after David's mother died a week after his birth.
David's father, peasant farmer Yohane Banda, took the baby to an orphanage to be cared for when he became sick at five weeks old.
He had already lost his first two children to malaria.
The child's picture is believed to be among 12 emailed to Madonna from the Home of Hope Orphan Care Centre in Mchinji.
The orphanage director, the Rev Thompson Chipeta, told Mr Banda "a very nice Christian lady" wanted to offer David a home.
Madonna, 48, wants David to be a brother to her children, Lourdes, nine, and Rocco, five.
Two months ago the pop superstar announced she was to donate ?3 million to the country through the Raising Malawi charity.
Her partner in the project is Michael Berg, founder of the Kabbalah Centre in Los Angeles.
Arriving at Heathrow today, David was wearing denim shorts, a white T-shirt and a baseball cap.
Despite the cold and the early hour, David did not cry and seemed remarkably alert after his long flight.
He was surrounded by the star's aides and carried by the woman who was seen taking him on to the plane which left Malawi.
Human rights groups attended court today in Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi, to challenge the seemingly quick decision about David's future.
They claimed that the courts had improperly waived Malawian laws to allow Madonna and Ritchie to take temporary custody of the child.
They said they wanted to ensure child protection regulations were not swept aside to benefit a singer who has been generous to Malawi.
Justin Dzonzi, a lawyer for a coalition of human rights and child advocacy organisations, said his group was asking a judge to review the adoption.
Under the court order, David must be returned to Malawi if Madonna is seen to be treating him differently from her other children.
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