Tales of "Madonna Dearest" will remain under wraps - at least for now.

Crown Publishing pulled the plug on a reportedly "explosive" tell-all being penned by the pop superstar's former nanny, Melissa Dumas, the author's agent revealed yesterday.

Madonna's lawyers had reportedly pressured the publisher to drop "Live to Tell: My Life as Madonna's Nanny." The book was expected to dish on the singer's marriage to film director Guy Ritchie, her alleged ironfisted household rules and the controversial adoption of Malawian son David Banda, according to reports.

"I deeply regret that Crown decided not to move forward in publishing [the nanny's] book," agent Sharlene Martin of Encino, Calif., said in a statement.

Martin declined to answer questions about her plans for Dumas' book.

Officials at the Random House-owned Crown did not return calls for comment on why they dropped the project.

Madonna's rep Liz Rosenberg declined to comment on the proposed book or reports that the singer's lawyers exerted pressure to quash the tome.

The ex-nanny "had very little already on paper ... it was very much a work in progress" when Crown pulled the plug, the Daily News has learned.

Crown may have had second thoughts because the tome was likely to take longer to complete than originally expected, especially the process of legal vetting, publishing insiders said.

Source: Paul Colford and Michelle Caruso, NY Daily News