With two failed marriages and a legion of lovers behind her, you could forgive Madonna for being something of a cynic in matters of the heart. But the singer said she was still a romantic and hoped one day to be "swept away by a knight in shining armour".

She added that despite the breakdown of her marriages to actor Sean Penn and director Guy Ritchie she would wed again — if asked.

The 53-year-old was speaking to chat show host Graham Norton before the premiere of her new film, W.E., which is currently showing in UAE cinemas.

Madonna, who directed the movie about the love affair between Wallis Simpson and King Edward VIII, chose a classic black velvet strapless gown and lace cape for the red-carpet appearance at the Odeon cinema in Kensington, West London.

The mother of four, who arrived with her dancer boyfriend Brahim Zaibat, who at 24 is 29 years her junior, had earlier told Norton: "If you're a romantic like me, and every girl I know is, every girl wants to be swept off her feet by a knight in shining armour. Unfortunately we're raised on those fairytales.

"Even if we are sophisticated, educated, intelligent, evolved human beings, we like to think that Mr Right is going to sweep us off our feet and take us into the sunset, and we're going to live happily ever after.

"But we keep getting disappointed. And you know that doesn't exist."

When asked if she could see herself walking down the aisle again, Madonna, who has dated many high-profile men including John F. Kennedy Jr, replied: "I could actually, yes. I'm a good judge of character but I have made a few mistakes."

The singer divorced Ritchie, 43, after eight years of marriage in 2008. He is dating model Jacqui Ainsley; the couple had a son in 2011.

Madonna also revealed that she was just like every other harassed mother of teenagers.

She told how her 15-year-old daughter Lourdes raids her wardrobe to steal her clothes and often shows her "no respect".

She said: "She is 15 but she's very sophisticated for her age. I don't even have to ask and she gives me her opinion. I play her songs and say ‘What do you think. Like it, don't like it? Cool, uncool?' She's very opinionated.

"And she borrows my clothes a lot. She's always sneaking into my room at six in the morning when I'm sleeping. She loves these combat boots that I wear. Maybe she loans them to her friends because I don't see them for weeks."

All in the attitude

"She doesn't like the fact she still has a nanny, but I have four kids so I need someone to look after them. My nanny said, ‘You've got to give your mum her boots back'. She said, ‘Whatever, she'll get over it'. I was thinking, ‘Wow, she doesn't hear me at all'. I don't care about the boots, it's her attitude."

Of her other three children —Rocco, 11, David, 6, and daughter Mercy, also 6, Madonna added: "When I'm at home with my children I hear all the complaints and I still have to threaten to kill them if they won't do their homework."

In love with gloves

Madonna arrived for the UK premiere of her new film W.E. — elegantly attired in a black evening gown, towering heels ... and what looked like red, leather golf gloves.

Bizarre though the get-up may have been, it's hardly the first time she has accessorised one of her outfits in this way.

In recent years, the Material Girl has gone to ridiculous lengths to ensure that the backs of her hands are never exposed.

And who can blame her? The occasional glimpse of them in the past has revealed that her hands don't appear to match her fresh, unlined face.

Madonna has spent most of her adult life following a strict, low-calorie, protein-based macrobiotic diet and working out for up to four hours a day.

It's an exercise programme that has given her the buffed and toned figure of a woman half her age — but, unfortunately, it has also given her the unsightly hands of someone far older.

Strenuous exercise is known to increase blood flow which, in turn, makes the veins on the hands and arms much more pronounced.

Also, as we age, fat that is under the skin disappears, leaving the bones and blood structures more visible. Given Madonna's apparent mission to strip every ounce of fat from her body, it's no wonder the effect on her hands is apparent.

She has also suffered from the ageing effects every woman sees on her hands. The skin is always thin, but gets thinner still with age and is constantly exposed to the elements — meaning hands can easily suffer from wrinkles and sun-induced age spots.

Of course, there are solutions — the treatments that de-age the face, such as fillers, peels and lasers, can do the same for hands. But, as Madonna has discovered, donning a pair of funky gloves is a far more convenient and less painful alternative.

— By Claire Coleman, Daily Mail