Britney couldn’t look after herself let alone her kids, says ex-bodyguard

FREE of her crippling conservatorship and newly married, Britney Spears this week made her musical comeback – a duet with Sir Elton John.

After 13 years under the legal control of her father, it looks like the troubled star is finally getting her life back.

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But while her career is on the up, Britney, 40, is still privately devastated by the estrangement of her beloved kids Sean Preston, 16, and Jayden James, 15.

Now her former bodyguard has offered his perspective on the heart-breaking reasons she no longer sees her children.

Fernando Flores says the pop star always wanted to be a good mum but struggled to overcome the issues that have caused drama in her life.

And while she is so much happier and healthier 12 years on from the time he worked for her, Flores believes those dark days have cast a long shadow.

Her sons refused to attend her wedding to Iranian-born actor Sam Asghari earlier this year and now live permanently with their dad Kevin Federline.

In an exclusive interview, Fernando, 41, revealed: “I’m sorry to say this, but it doesn’t surprise me that she no longer sees her kids.

“I always felt that once they were old enough, they would make the decision not to stay with her.

“Kevin gave those boys a normal childhood, but Britney just couldn’t do the same.

‘THE BOYS WERE CRYING’

“There was too much chaos in her life and the truth is back then she couldn’t even look after herself, let alone her children.

“I do feel that deep down, she always wanted to be a good mum and she definitely liked the idea of spending time with her boys.

“But she tended to be drawn towards hangers-on who didn’t have her best interests at heart.”

Father-of-four Fernando fears that while Britney is in a much better place in her life, she will struggle to reconcile with her kids having cut ties with her dad Jamie Spears and fallen out with her sister Jamie Lynn.

And he worries that without family support, she could become isolated.

He said: “The fact that she has fallen out with her father, sister and with Kevin and her boys speaks volumes about where she is right now.

“I’ve never met Sam and hopefully he is a good guy, but I do fear that history is repeating itself.”

Britney’s sons were aged four and three when Fernando was brought in as her part-time bodyguard in 2010.

Fernando quit his job after eight months and later sued for sexual harassment, complaining the Oops! . . . I Did It Again hitmaker regularly exposed herself to him.

Britney and her family denied all of Fernando’s claims and released a statement saying the lawsuit was “another unfortunate situation where someone is trying to take advantage of the Spears family and make a name for himself.”

In 2012, it was reported that the case had been settled out of court.

Fernando was part of a team of minders run by a private security firm hired by her dad Jamie that oversaw her care.

I’m sorry to say this, but it doesn’t surprise me that she no longer sees her kids.

Jamie, 70, had been made his daughter’s conservator after she had a mental health breakdown in 2007 and subsequently lost custody of her sons temporarily.

He soon banned contact with her friend — and alleged enabler — Sam Lutfi and put strict rules on her interactions with her then boyfriend, and former agent, Jason Trawick.

By the time Fernando was hired, Britney was deemed well enough to see her kids three days a week at her mansion in the Los Angeles suburb of Calabasas.

The boy’s back-up dancer dad Kevin looked after them for the other four.

Kevin, 44, had two more children with his actress ex Shar Jackson, 45, and Fernando noticed that Jayden and Sean seemed much happier at his house in LA.

The former cop said: “They would be super excited when I would take them back to their dad’s place and would be hopping around on the back seat.

“When I picked them up to take them to their mum’s, they would hardly say a word.

“There was one time when they started crying and told me they didn’t want to go. They didn’t say why.

“I think one reason they preferred to be with Kevin was because there were other children at his house so they had people to play with.

“At Britney’s house they just had the two nannies, who worked on rotation, and a team of three or four bodyguards.

“Britney spent a lot of time in her courtyard in the middle of her house chain-smoking cigarettes.

“She always looked forward to seeing her children but, once they were there, she didn’t know what to do with them.”

Flores said that Britney’s erratic behaviour at that time could upset her sons.

He explained: “A favourite thing was to go to the cinema, but Britney would often insist on leaving halfway through the movie.

The fact that she has fallen out with her father, sister and with Kevin and her boys speaks volumes about where she is right now.

“She would say, ‘OK, it’s time to go.’ I would say, ‘The kids want to stay,’ but she wouldn’t take no for an answer. The boys would be upset, crying, and you can’t treat children like that.

“Another time we drove all the way down to Disneyland in California and Britney shut herself in her room at the Grand Californian Hotel and refused to leave.

“The boys were crying and we had to call her dad to ask him to sort it out.”

Fernando added: “I had two children of my own at the time — they are 19 and 21 now — so I felt really bad for those boys.

“I did my best to entertain them. I even brought my own kids in for play dates a couple of times.”

BRANDED SISTER ‘SCUM’

Fernando spoke out after dad-of-six Kevin told a forthcoming ITV documentary that his sons, who are now strapping teenagers, made the decision to cut off contact with Britney.

They also refused to attend their mum’s intimate wedding with Sam, 28, in California in July.

The ceremony was only possible after the star’s dad Jamie stepped down as conservator last year after a legal battle with his daughter.

Britney also lashed out at her mum Lynne and branded her 31-year-old sister Jamie Lynn “scum” for not backing her.

In leaked clips, Kevin explained: “The boys have decided they are not seeing (Britney) right now.

“It’s been a few months since they’ve seen her. They made the decision not to go to her wedding.”

Kevin, who married former volleyball player Victoria Prince in 2013, also had a frank conversation with his sons about their mum’s racy Instagram pics.

He said: “I try to explain to them, ‘Look, maybe that’s just another way she tries to express herself’.

Britney has since hit back on social media, writing: “It’s hard for me to let go of things I truly love . . . like my kids.

She always looked forward to seeing her children but, once they were there, she didn’t know what to do with them.

“The situation should have 100 per cent been dealt with privately and definitely not online.

“A British network claimed that their stepmum’s goal is to keep the children away from all of the controversy and trauma in my home.

“I have love in my home and I have blessings from the people I allow in and out of my home.”

Meanwhile, Sir Elton, who has recorded Hold Me Closer, a new version of his 1972 hit Tiny Dancer with Britney, has blasted the conservatorship which took away her freedom.

He said: “What happened to her shouldn’t have happened to anybody.”

And he described her nervousness over returning to music, saying: “There’s a lot of fear there, because she’s been betrayed so many times.

“We’ve been holding her hand through the whole process, reassuring her that everything’s gonna be all right.”

Fernando, who now runs a company in California, said: “Britney’s behaviour was very unpredictable back then.

“She would talk about parallel universes and lash out in anger, or cry like a little girl.

“I always worried about the boys because she was not well and children pick up on these things.

“I truly hope Britney is getting the help she needs now and that she will get to see her boys again one day.”

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