Her parenting skills may be questioned but Britney Spears knows the truth: she would die for her children. The paparazzi-magnet and troubled star has been pictured in a different light as OK! magazine shot a casual care-free Spears with kids Sean Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1.”She was very loving,” photographer Dani Brubaker says of the 26-year-old mother. “She told me that they are her life.”Spears has always been portrayed by the media as a neglectful parent. On Friday, the pop singer’s visitation rights to her kids were suspended, thus awarding full and sole custody to ex-husband Kevin Federline. But far from the negligent parent the public sees her, Brubaker says that Spears was “very attention” to her sons’ needs.The photographer also reveals the singer’s reaction when she saw the shots, “I’m told that when she saw the photographs she literally cried for over an hour and stared at them all night long.”According to a friend of the singer, “Britney has always said, ‘I would die for my boys if that’s what it tool to prove I loved them. I’d do anything for them.’”That may be the reason why the friend also says that she is “inconsolable” right now as her chance of winning the custody battle for her kids is decreasing fast. “Those boys are her everything, and she’s said repeatedly that life isn’t worth living if she can’t have her babies with her.”The only reason she’s doing this is because she wants them to look up to her onstage and be like, ‘That’s my mama,’ and be proud of her. She’d put her life before them and die for Jayden and Preston. They’re her whole world.”

By Jill Serjeant

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The parents of Britney Spears on Wednesday accused popular television therapist Dr. Phil McGraw of betraying their trust by publicizing his visit to the troubled pop star while she was hospitalized last week.

As her parents spoke out, reports swirled that Spear’s latest boyfriend — a paparazzi — was trying to sell semi-nude pictures of the singer.

A spokeswoman for the Spears family told NBC’s “Today” show the star’s parents had asked McGraw to visit her in a hospital last week as a private favor when she was admitted after refusing, in a fit of hysterics, to hand back her two children to ex-husband Kevin Federline.

“The family basically extended an invitation of trust as a resource to support them, not to make a public statement,” Lou Taylor, the business manager for Lynne and Jamie Spears, told “Today” in an interview.

McGraw issued a statement Saturday saying Spears, 26, was “in dire need of medical and psychological intervention.” He later scrapped plans for a special on “The Dr. Phil Show” about Spears and her problems after criticism from other counselors.

Spears spent almost two days in a Los Angeles hospital after being taken from her home on a stretcher after a standoff with police. News reports said she locked herself in a bathroom and became hysterical when Federline’s representatives came to pick up their two young sons after a visit.

Spears’ life has careened out of control since she divorced Federline in 2006. She lost custody of the boys last year.

McGraw has remained defiant. “Somebody needs to step up and provide a vector to get this young woman into some quality care,” he told celebrity TV show Entertainment Tonight

It seems no one’s quite sure what set off Britney Spears’ latest breakdown.

The fallen pop star spent two nights in Los Angeles’ Cedars-Sinai Medical Center last week after failing to surrender her two sons to her ex-husband, Kevin Federline, initiating a three hour standoff with cops.

According to People magazine, Spears tested free of illegal drugs and alcohol at Cedars-Sinai.

“She tested clean,” People’s unnamed source said. “This lady is as clean as clean can be, and has been for some time.”

But London’s News of the World claims her bizarre behavior was the result of a “purple monster” mix of vodka, NyQuil and Red Bull, which she downed along with 100 prescription pills, including 12 Vicodins, six Ritalins and 10 sleeping pills.

After consuming that cocktail, Spears called her pregnant 16-year-old sister, Jamie Lynn, and said she’d be taking over the spotlight soon, shouting “You’re not going to be the only f—ing Spears on the front cover of a magazine next week!” London’s News of the World reported.

However, Paul L. Doering, professor of pharmacy practice at the University of Florida, said Spears would not have been able to stand had she taken all those drugs and chased them with alcohol, let alone make a phone call.

“I can tell you without hesitation that a human being could not ingest all of those drugs and still be on this planet,” he told ABCNEWS.com. “The additive effect, the combined toxicities, the out-and-out poisonous properties of those things would send someone surely to the morgue rather than to the ER, especially if swilled down with vodka or any other alcoholic beverage.”

What we have here is a failure to communicate.That’s the reason the attorneys who have been representing Britney Spears in her ongoing custody case are asking to be relieved as her counsel, according to court documents filed Wednesday.”There has been a breakdown in communications between Petitioner and Trope & Trope making further representation of her interests impossible,” reads the motion filed on behalf of the pop star’s main legal man, Sorrell Trope. No further explanation for the requested split was given, but it reportedly happened to occur on the same day Spears missed her latest appointment to be deposed by Kevin Federline’s legal camp, a sit-down that’s been in the works for some time.She missed her last scheduled appearance Dec. 12, blaming anxiety and physical illness. In a subsequent emergency hearing, K-Fed attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan, armed with photographic evidence, noted to the court commissioner overseeing the custody case that Spears apparently was doing well enough to go out later that night. ”It’s not fourth grade, where you get a doctor’s note and it’s all okay,” Kaplan told People last weekend, adding that he was looking to get Spears’ deposition underway in early 2008.

Trope’s firm has been on Spears’ side since she parted ways with attorney Laura Wasser in September. But the Beverly Hills-based family laywer toldPeople he hasn’t yet joined the club of Spears’ ex-attorneys. He has to wait and see what the judge says first.”A lawyer cannot simply withdraw from a case,” Trope said. “We will ask the court to relieve us, which will be heard within a month’s time.” Meanwhile, the papers informing his soon-to-be ex-client of his decision are in the mail, according to the motion filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.It’s unclear how this shakeup will affect the custody proceedings. Kaplan could not yet be reached for comment. In other legal news, Spears’ trial on a misdemeanor vehicle infraction has been postponed until Jan. 25, but as far as we know, the “Toxic” singer still has counsel lined up to represent her during those proceedings.

BRITNEY Spears faces fresh heartbreak, with the release of pictures of her ex-husband Kevin Federline cosying up to none other than her own party pal, Paris Hilton.

The hotel heiress, who has become good friends with Britney after partying with her several times this year, was seen laughing and joking with Kevin at Las Vegas’ LAX nightclub on Saturday.

A source said: “Kevin and Paris were having fun. He kept shouting out her name and gave her a kiss on the cheek and then whispered something in her ear. It looked as though they were getting quite friendly.”

Click here to see exclusive pictures of Paris enjoying herself with K-Fed.

Britney was reportedly furious after seeing photographs of Paris and Kevin together at the weekend.

This isn’t the first time Britney has felt betrayed by one of her friends recently.

Lindsay Lohan is said to have upset the Toxic singer by dating Britney’s ex-lover music producer J.R. Rotem.

Although Kevin seemed to be enjoying himself with Paris, he was left red-faced after deciding to grab a microphone and rap to the crowd.

A source told gossip website TMZ.com: “Kevin tried his best, but all he did was spew a loud, heaping load of annoyance. Clubgoers were fleeing for the exit once he started.”

Meanwhile, Kevin’s lawyer Mark Vincent Kaplan has revealed he is determined to depose Britney in the New Year.

Kaplan said: “Britney Spears will have her deposition early this year. We’ve got a lot to talk about. Kevin isn’t interested, nor am I, in punishing her.

We just want to get information necessary to proceed further.”

Britney missed a scheduled deposition in December over the custody of the couple’s two children, Sean Preston and Jayden James, after claiming she was ill.

Kaplan also said Kevin had a “happy” Christmas with Sean Preston and Jayden James, his ex-lover Shar Jackson and their two children Kori and Kaleb.

Kaplan added to People magazine: “It was a good Christmas for all. They were great. Kevin had all of his kids and it was a big, wonderful family setting.

He was really happy, and the kids were happy.”