From a marriage ban, to not being allowed her own credit cards and even forced on to birth control, Britney Spears had her life mapped out by others for almost 14 years.
The extraordinary restrictions placed on her life only came to an end last year as the conservatorship put in place by a US judge was terminated.
For Julianne Kaye, it marked the end of a traumatic chapter in her friend’s life - and one far removed from the bubbly, fresh-faced girl she knew long before the dark side of fame took hold.
The Hollywood make-up artist was just 23 years old when she took on the job of a lifetime, accompanying Britney on tours around the world from Europe to Asia.
She struck up a close, almost sisterly, friendship and saw the huge pressure she was under after bursting on to the scene with Baby One More Time in 1998.
Long before Britney's breakdown in which she shaved her head – and lost custody of her children – the cracks were showing as she struggled in the spotlight.
Julianne recalls vividly a trip to London where her car was mobbed by fans and paparazzi as the two women attempted to head out from their hotel.
"She just started crying and she was like, ‘Oh my God, what’s going on? I just want to go shopping,’" Julianne says. "It just got really crazy. And then it meant her having to be locked into her hotel room because it just was dangerous."
Britney was always saying she just "wanted to be normal" but her level of fame at the time precluded her from any semblance of normality. She felt, in effect, trapped, says Julianne.
"She really loved entertaining and she really loved performing, she loved that part of the job, but she hated all the other stuff because she wasn’t the kind of celebrity that just could walk outside of her hotel room," she says.
"It was pretty wild. The fans were crazy. She couldn’t do anything."
While on tour, they would sneak out with Britney disguising herself in wigs – much to her manager's disgust.
"Her manager hated that, I’d sneak Britney out and he’s like, ‘Do you know she has death threats against her?’ And I’m like, ‘I just want her to have a good time.’ She so loved the wigs."
Hotel security were even placed by her door to stop her escaping.
"We literally just ran out. And he’s like, ‘Wait!’. And we just ran. I think that was in Vienna. I got in trouble for that with her management," she recalls.
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Their friendship flourished away from tour too. "I was living at her house for a little bit and she goes, ‘I want to go to your shoot’. So she put a wig on and used my mum’s name. She said, ‘I’ll be your assistant Melinda.’’
"I bring her to the shoot and they’re like, ‘You brought Britney Spears. Wow.’ She had fun. She kept it up. She’s like, ‘I’m Melinda, I’m Jules’s assistant.’ Because she really thought she was being sneaky, but everybody knew who she was."
Julianne was there for Britney during her doomed relationship with Justin Timberlake – and even styled their famous, matching double-denim look at the American Music Awards in 2001.
The pair started dating in 1999 before it ended three years later amid reports Britney cheated on Justin with her choreographer, Wade Robson. Things got uglier when Justin released his Cry Me A River video, which features him getting revenge on a woman who has been unfaithful, and who looked like Britney.
"She was very, very, very upset. Very hurt," she says. "I think the way he handled it was wrong because she was very hurt. It was his way of telling the world his side of the story, which isn’t fair because there’s two sides to every story."
Britney was also jealous after Justin was pictured with Nicole Appleton from girl group All Saints.
"I knew they had some issues. She had her questions about who he was with because stuff would be out in the press. So he’d be out with some girl from All Saints and she’d get very jealous."
Julianne watched in horror as the singer's life started to spiral out of control as her mental health deteriorated. Britney began behaving erratically in 2007 after divorcing Kevin Federline and losing custody of their two children.
She made headlines for shaving her head and hitting a photographer’s car with an umbrella, before being twice admitted to hospital under a psychiatric ruling.
In 2008, the conservatorship was set up.
Looking back at this period, Julianne was aghast that the star was still working.
"She had her well-publicised breakdown and when I saw her on X Factor or whatever show she was doing, it was like the lights were on but nobody was home," she says.
"I was like, ‘That’s not Britney.’ I thought, ‘If somebody just had a complete mental breakdown, why are they going back to work?’ She didn’t look like herself ever again.
"I am friends with people who have worked with Britney throughout the conservatorship and the stories I’ve heard are crazy. She couldn’t have coffee. They would bug her room."
Julianne says she is delighted Britney, 41, has her freedom back, and hopes the newly married star finds peace. She looks back fondly on her time working with Britney, which led to working with stars including Beyonce, Emma Thompson, Mariah Carey and Kate Hudson.
She is now starring in reality show Blowing LA, about hairstylists to the stars, as well as having written a novel, Pop Tart.
Julianne says: "Britney was a huge star, but during the conservatorship, the light that shined so brightly was gone. You could see it in her eyes.
"If you knew her, you saw something was just so wrong. I really cared very deeply about her and I still do."
Blowing LA launches on December 7 on Paramount +.
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