Despite earning an estimated £38m a year, Madonna has hinted that she will tour in 2012 to stay financially afloat!

In an interview with Graham Norton for his TV show, Madonna said she needed the money after investing heavily in her new movie, W.E. which she also directed.

The 53-year-old star, in London to attend a premiere of the movie, told Norton that she had to endure, "lots of trials and tribulations" to get her biopic of Wallis Simpson, the woman who had an affair with King Edward VIII, off the ground. Madonna admitted that the film, which cost an estimated £20m to make, became "a labour of love."

"I just spent the last few years making a film and I have to pay the rent," Madonna told Norton. "A girl has to make a living, but I do enjoy it, truthfully."

Madonna said she was inspired to make the film after reading about the Royal Family.

“When I first moved to England I felt like a real foreigner and outsider so I started reading about the Royal Family’s history starting with Henry VIII – as one does – and working my way up to the Windsors.Then I came across this story and was blown away."

Madonna, who divorced film director Guy Ritchie in 2008 after eight years of marriage, said she could relate to Wallis and Edward, suggesting that she was also, at times, made to feel unwelcome in England.

Catch Madonna in Desperately Seeking Susan throughout January on Sony Entertainment Television.

The Tudors, starring Natalie Dormer as Anne Boleyn, who also stars in W.E., debuts on Sony in February.