It’s a bit like the old dilemna about whether a tree that falls in a forest with noone around to hear it, still makes a noise when it lands - but if Britney Spears wasn’t constantly surrounded by cameras and journalists would her life still be in the mess that it seems to be at the moment?

I think it’s hard to argue that it would.

Unlike some people, like Pete Doherty, who would appear to have brought his problems with him into public life, Britney’s have all landed fairly recently.