MONTE CARLO, Monaco - The obsession with pop singer Kylie Minogue's backside has taken on a new, disturbing dimension.

Minogue has revealed that Prince Albert of Monaco fondled her bottom, the Sun reported.

The shocked singer said the Prince had a quick feel of Britain's favorite backside after he scooped her up in his arms.

Prince Albert, a known womanizer, swooped on the petite star, picked her up and twirled her around when she arrived to see her room at the Hotel de Paris before the World Music Awards in Monte Carlo.

Telling of her brush with royalty, Minogue told the Sun, "The prince swept me off the ground. I was a bit surprised to feel his hand caress my backside when he put me down.

"It was enough of a shock for him to pick me up in the first place but I certainly didn't expect him to be all hands. It was a bit embarrassing, although he acted like nothing had happened."

Speaking backstage at the awards, where she picked up an award for Best Selling Australian Artist, Minogue, dressed in a typically tiny outfit from Dolce & Gabbana, told the Sun, "I have been getting a lot of grief about my backside."

Minogue appealed to the nation to stop its obsession with her backside. The Australian star also denied having plastic surgery on her rear. "It appears to have become a national obsession but I think the fuss is ridiculous," she said.

"Personally I prefer not to spend any time talking about or thinking about my posterior!"
Meanwhile, Minogue insisted she was not getting married.

Minogue was quoted as saying by the Sun: "When I said on the 'Parkinson' TV show that I was ready for marriage, I didn't mean it was going to happen immediately. I'm sorry if I'm being boring but I only meant that one day I would like to do it. I have no intention to get married at this stage in my life." (TRJ)