Britney Spears Hopes to Be 'Best Mommy' to Sons After Admitting She 'Failed as a Mother'

Britney Spears used Instagram over the weekend to mark the birthdays of her sons, Jayden Federline and Preston Federline, saying she hoped to be the 'best mommy' in the world after admitting she had 'failed as a mother'.

Spears shares both sons with her former husband, Kevin Federline. The couple married in September 2004, welcomed Preston a year later and had Jayden in 2006.

Their relationship with Spears has been rocky, although the singer reunited with the boys earlier this year and has reportedly spent more time with them since.

Britney Spears Marks Two Birthdays

Spears first posted a carousel for Jayden, who turned 19 on 12 September. 'Happy birthday to my handsome young boy. Oh dear Lord, we have this beautiful thing called life in front of u; it's such a beautiful, delicate thing,' she wrote.

One photograph showed Jayden in a button-down flannel shirt and black trousers. Another looked further back, capturing him as a child in a red T-shirt with its hem held between his teeth. Spears ended the message with an emphatic wish.

'I hope I can be the best mommy in the world every day of ur life!!!!' she wrote. Hours later, Preston received his own post ahead of turning 20 on Monday, 14 September. Spears teased him about his physique, writing, 'Please stop working out so much because your muscles r starting to scare me .... JK! Well...I'm so proud of the young man you have become.'

The accompanying photograph showed Spears and her sons in a golf cart in London. She said they had been 'strolling in the park' and recalled that Preston 'absolutely loved London'.

Britney Spears Reopens a Painful Question

The warmth of those messages sits beside a much harder account from Spears. Shortly before the birthday posts, she said she had discovered five years ago that her parents had secretly taken her sons to the beach.

'I felt demoralised to live in a country where it was accepted for people like my mom and dad to live secret lives with my children,' Spears said, according to The Blast. The supplied material contains no response from her parents. IBTimes UK cannot independently verify these family claims.

Spears also said one of her sons told her he did not believe in God. She admitted the conversation hit her hard and left her feeling that she 'had failed as a mother', though she said she hoped the Holy Spirit would touch him as it had touched her.

Britney Spears' Sons Find Their Voices

Jayden has already challenged some of the wilder stuff said about his mother online. Discussing a video with 1.2 million likes and the caption 'The biggest theory ever: Is Britney Spears still alive?', he called the claims ridiculous.

'Like, bro, you can go to her page and see her right now,' he said. 'It makes me know that a lot of the stuff on the media is exaggerated and fake.'

Preston, meanwhile, is developing an interest in music alongside his other passions. In his first cover appearance for MAC Cosmetics' digital editorial platform, MaCzine, he said he would share his music with the world when he was ready.

Sound, he explained, was the foundation of everything for him. He added that he and his brother had gravitated towards music throughout their lives.