Britney Spears reaction to losing custody of her two children is - as expected - as bizarre as much of her behaviour of late.
Family and friends fear that the judges decision to award custody of her two sons to their father, Kevin Federline, will propel troubled Britney Spears to harm herself.
But it was business as usual for troubled Britney and the first stop on the singer’s agenda - after surrendering her boys Sean Preston, two, and one-year-old Jayden James to their father Kevin’s bodyguard - was a visit to Epitome, her favourite Bel Air tanning salon.
Afterwards she checked in to the Peninsula Hotel. But, as she made her way inside, two photographers got into a fight - which seemed to amuse the giggling singer no end.
Then, Britney paid a visit to the Department of Motor Vehicles office in Van Nuys, California, where she finally applied for a driving licence and took a written test.
The singer still has a valid licence in her home state of Louisiana, but since she has been an LA resident for years, she is required by law to get a Californian license.
Jan Mendoza, information officer at the Department of Motor Vehicles explained: “When you make your home here, or take a job and you want to drive in California, you must apply for a California driver licence within 10 days. Britney is considered an unlicensed driver in California.”
Last Friday, Commissioner Gordon banned both Spears and Federline from driving the children unless they had a valid California driver’s license. But on the weekend, Britney was allegedly seen driving her two children around LA without a valid license.
She was already being investigated for the alleged hit-and-run and for driving without a license in August, offences for which she was warned she faced up to a year in prison.
The driving offences likely compelled the judge to issue Monday’s orders, said New York divorce lawyer Raoul Felder.
“She was driving without a license with a child in the car,” he said.
“You can put aside the in and out of rehab, the shaving her head. But this? When a judge went out on a limb for her? There’s no going back.”
Last Friday, the judge banned both Spears and Federline from driving the children unless they had a valid California driver’s license, but she was photographed on Sunday driving her car with the two boys in the back, which was the final straw for Federline.
His lawyer immediately went to an LA court and Britney was ordered to hand over her sons.
Watch the final video of Britney with her children before she lost custody here:
The judge ordered the singer’s ex-husband to take charge of Sean Preston, two and one-year-old Jayden James from midday yesterday until further notice.
The order from LA County Superior Court judge Scott Gordon comes after Britney, 25, ignored the Commissioner’s list of requirements of things she needed to do in order to maintain 50/50 custody.
She has failed to obey any of the other demands laid down by the judge: she didn’t meet a drug counsellor; she refused to submit to drug testing; she didn’t enrol in parenting classes; and she failed to sign the judge’s order.
The judge also banned either parent from taking drugs or drinking up to 12 hours before caring for the boys.
According to celebrity website TMZ, Britney failed to meet any of the judges requirements.
Britney has faced a barrage of criticism over her high-profile lifestyle, including court allegations that she was a “habitual and continuous” user of drink and drugs.
The judge said Federline, an aspiring rapper, was to “retain physical custody of the minor children until further order of the court”.
Last month a former aide told a hearing of the extent of Britney’s drug abuse.
Her ex-bodyguard Tony Barretto, 27, claimed the singer had overdosed on a mixture of Class A drugs hours before her comeback performance in May and just weeks after leaving rehab.
Mr Barretto said Britney had taken cocaine and crystal meth with fellow troubled U.S. pop star Howie Day - with whom she was rumoured to have had a fling - and was “completely out of it. She was distraught, crying and looked so ill. We thought she was dying.”
She later performed in Anaheim, California, but the gig was branded a shambles.
Britney was charged last month for allegedly crashing into a parked car and shortly afterward was seen in floods of tears after taking a drugs test ordered by the court.
The incident followed a disastrous week in which her lawyer and manager quit because they could not cope with her erratic behaviour.
Mr Barretto said: “Britney is out of control and needs help. She is not a good mother and has mental problems.
“With her drug and booze issues, her home is no place for children to be raised.”
Federline, 29, has been embroiled in an increasingly bitter custody battle with the former Mickey Mouse Club star since their tumultuous two-year marriage ended last November.
He is initially thought to have agreed to share custody but demanded full care conditions - backed by Britney’s mother - after the revelations, which were the latest in a series of damaging incidents for the star.
Most infamously there was her public meltdown in February this year when she shaved her head.
After several subsequent stints in rehab, she was hoping to make a career comeback last month at the MTV music awards in Las Vegas.
Instead she left onlookers open-mouthed as, out of time to the music and in bad shape, she shuffled about the stage.
Critics described it as “painful and embarrassing” and a “train wreck”.
Britney’s parenting skills and emotional state were called into question early last year when she was pictured driving with Sean Preston - then just five months old - on her lap.
A couple of months later, she attracted fierce criticism for nearly dropping him on the pavement as she tried to keep hold of a tumbler of drink in her other hand.
