A British tabloid newspaper has set off speculation that pop superstar Madonna is now looking to adopt a child from Lesotho, or even Nigeria.

The Nigerian newspaper, Vanguard, published a report on Monday drawn from the music website, contactmusic.com, saying she "is said to be considering" adopting a Mosotho child, but that "it has also been suggested" that she had discussed adoption with a Nigerian orphanage.

The only source quoted by the site was the British tabloid, the Mail on Sunday, which said nothing about Nigeria but carried a report suggesting that Madonna's desire to adopt a second African child "could be the reason" she watched Prince Harry of Britain playing polo in New York a week ago.

Deeper into the Mail and Sunday report, the details became a little clearer but not the sourcing.

The paper reported that Madonna was "warned last week" that Malawian judges were unlikely to grant her appeal against a judge's decision in April preventing her from adopting a second Malawian child, a girl named Mercy. In 2006, she adopted David Banda, a 13-month-old boy.

The Mail on Sunday went on to quote "a source" as saying: "Madonna is not a patient person, she’s used to getting what she wants. She has said she won’t give up on Mercy but if she’s blocked from adopting her legally then she will think about trying to adopt another baby. She has already started looking into other African countries... She has done some research on Lesotho and because it’s a place that is ravaged by Aids and has a high number of orphans, it could be the perfect second choice."

The newspaper did not explain the Prince Harry connection further, apart from saying that the polo game was a benefit match for Sentebale, a children's charity in Lesotho which he and Prince Seeiso, the younger brother of King Letsie III, have founded. Prince Harry spent time doing volunteer work with children in Lesotho between completing school and joining the British Army.