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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Entertainment
Dominique Hines

Britney Spears makes gushing birthday tributes to estranged sons Jayden and Preston amid family drama

Britney Spears has shared a gushing post about her sons, Sean Preston and Jayden, as they celebrate their birthdays this week.

The singer, 40, posted images of the pair on Instagram on Tuesday evening (September 13) amid their very public family feud.

Sean Preston is set to turn 17 on Wednesday, while Jayden turned 16 on Monday.

She captioned the snaps, one of which showed her standing between the two boys: “Happy birthday Preston and Jayden!!! Love you both so much!!! These photos are from last year!!!”

Her sons, who recently did a damning televised interview about their famous mother, previously said they did not want to appear on her social media.

Spears also later shared a video in which she danced and cried, and described it as a therapeutic process.

She wrote: “It’s been a while since I’ve cried on camera!!! It’s not a breakdown a******s, it’s a release that I’ve needed for a very long time now!!!

"Spiritual experience for sure !!! I think I need to do that way more!!! Psss… bawling."

The Hit Me Baby One More Time singer has been estranged from her sons for months.

The boys, whose father is Spears' ex-husband, Kevin Federline, claimed that they have been keeping their distance in large part because they are embarrassed by the recent spate of semi-nude images their mother has been posting of herself to Instagram.

“It’s almost like she has to post something on Instagram to get some attention,” Jayden told DailyMail.com. “If that's what she wants to do, that’s what she wants to do. I’m not going to hate her for that.

Spears’ seldom-seen sons Sean, 17, and Jayden, 16, with a family friend (centre) have asked their famous mother not to feature them on her social-media pages (Eddie Morales/Instagram)

“At the same time, she should come to the realisation of whatever it is that stops her loving her family.”

He added: “This has gone on for years and years and years, and there's a high chance that this will never stop, but I'm hoping for me that she will stop.”

He also told the site that he had previously requested that his mother refrain from posting his photo on social media, and “she did it anyway... so it didn't go well”.

Over the weekend, Spears responded in a since-deleted post that she was “angry” about the comments and was “not willing to see” her sons until she felt “valued”.

Spears and her sons were said to have been inseparable when they were younger (Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

She added: “All I know is, my love for my children is more than anything and I'm sorry if I ever hurt you guys in any way... Jayden and Preston, I adore you...

“I'm so blessed to even call you mine. And I just want you to know.”

The star also revealed that she was told the boys had “blocked” her.

While her family life is seemingly a shambles, her professional life has been soaring.

Her new single with Elton John, Hold Me Closer, the singer’s first release of new music in six years, debuted in the number six spot in the US charts.

It was also the week’s highest new entry on the UK's Official Singles Chart at number three and landed the UK’s best-selling single of the week, when it was released in early September. 

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