The singer is reported to have made enquiries about sending two-year-old Lourdes to the Gloucestershire public school when she reaches the age of 11.

Madonna, who made her name with sexually charged performances on stage and video, will certainly be different from most of the mums at the £4,500-per-term school.

But the college's principal Vicky Tuck says she is sure Lourdes would be perfectly suited to life amongst the daughters of the world's high-flyers.

"Our pupils come from a whole range of backgrounds, that's what makes it such a wonderful place. Many are from the daughters of English professionals, but we have quite a diverse range of girls from all parts of the world."

Strict discipline

Cheltenham Ladies' College

The school discreetly refuses to confirm or deny on Madonna's interest but such early applications for entry are very common.

Prospective pupils have to pass a tough entrance exam before they can enter.

The school is famous for strict discipline and old girls tell of tight controls over their relations with boys. But Ms Tuck denies the school is repressive.

School for the 'modern world'

"The girls were all laughing at newspaper reports that they might get expelled for being caught in an 'intimate clinch' with a boy," she said.

"They're busy girls and what they do in their own time is their business. We're in the modern world after all and there is lots for them to do here and lots of opportunities for them to meet people."

Ms Tuck sees no problem with Madonna's rather notorious past. "It's the child that matters to us," she said.

Too tough for some

Nicola Horlick: Cheltenham runaway turned top banker

But it was all too much for top investment fund manager Nicola Horlick when she was at the school. She ran away at the age of 14, saying there was a "deep paranoia" of pupils becoming pregnant, and pupils were treated like prisoners.

Other former pupils include eminent writer Lisa Jardine, Lord Archer's wife Mary, fashion designer Katherine Hamnett and actress Kristin Scott Thomas.

Ms Scott Thomas said her time at the school in the 1970s "destroyed every ounce of self-confidence I ever hoped to have".

After leaving school, she fled to Paris at the age of 18.

'May she grow in heavenly light'

The school was founded in 1853 in the belief that the "education of girls is no less importance than that of boys".

Ninety per cent of the 850 pupils go onto higher education, with an average of 20 going on to Oxford or Cambridge. The school motto is "May she grow in heavenly light".

Madonna an anglophile

Madonna, who is still looking for a suitable house in London, is said to be impressed with the British way of life. She is also rumoured to be romantically involved with the British screenwriter Andy Bird.

A lapsed Catholic, Madonna has recently rediscovered spirituality and has said that she wants Lourdes to read the Bible and stay away from watching television.