Why is Britney Spears in a conservatorship anyway? A timeline of the star’s 17-year personal struggles and legal battles
- Britney Spears is battling to free herself from a conservatorship that has controlled her career and finances since February 2008 – but how did she end up here?
- From her marriages to Jason Allen Alexander and Kevin Federline, to children Sean Preston and Jayden James, we chart the singer’s tumultuous past struggles
Spears, now 39, has been under the conservatorship since February 2008, following a series of highly publicised personal struggles, many focused on the health and safety of her two young children, whom she shared with ex-husband Kevin Federline.
So how did the era-defining pop star end up here? Here’s a condensed timeline of events leading up to the court order that left the singer under the care of a conservator, initially her father, Jamie:
January 3-4, 2004: Spears marries childhood friend Jason Allen Alexander in Las Vegas. They have the marriage annulled after 55 hours.
September 18, 2004: Spears marries dancer Kevin Federline one month ahead of schedule.
September 14, 2005 and September 12, 2006: Spears gives birth to her first son, Sean Preston Federline, and her second son, Jayden James Federline.