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Pop star Britney Spears arrived at a Los Angeles court Tuesday for a custody hearing that will see her attempt to win greater access to her two children.
The teen idol, who was twice treated in hospital earlier this year amid concerns for her mental health as her personal problems mounted, looked calm as she entered court flanked by high-powered criminal lawyer Blair Berk.
Spears arrival at the courthouse was in stark contrast to appearances earlier this year, which saw chaotic scenes as hordes of paparazzi swarmed around the singer upon arrival.
Although dozens of photographers and reporters greeted Spears arrival on Tuesday, the singer was whisked into a courthouse garage with little fanfare shortly after 8am (1500 GMT).
Spears, 26, wearing a polka-dot maroon wrap dress and summer cardigan, did not speak as she entered the court room for the hearing in front of Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Scott Gordon.
Asked by Gordon to confirm her name, Spears replied: "Britney." When asked for her last name, she replied: "Spears."
Spears's parents were also present for the hearing as was ex-husband Kevin Federline, who currently has full legal and physical custody of the couple's two children, two-year-old Sean Preston and one-year-old Jayden James.
Tuesday's hearing will deal with the results of a report by a mental health expert who has provided commissioner Gordon with custody and visitation recommendations regarding the Spears' sons.
Spears, one of the most successful pop stars of her generation, has been locked in a custody feud with Federline since the couple split in 2006.
A judge limited Spears's access to her children last October after she failed to submit to random drug testing as demanded at an earlier hearing where the court ruled she was a "habitual and continuous drug user."
The singer has been rarely out of the tabloid headlines since the split with Federline. She was repeatedly photographed out partying while wearing no underwear, bizarrely shaved her head at a public salon, and attacked a paparazzi's car with an umbrella before finally entering rehab.
Spears shot to superstardom in late 1998 with her smash-hit debut album "Baby One More Time," which she followed with another chart-topping success the following year, "Oops! ... I Did It Again."
