Britney Spears paid a seemingly timely tribute to Princess Diana in an Instagram post on Thursday, following renewed criticism of the BBC’s 1995 Panorama interview that is said to have exploited the late Royal.
Pop princess: Britney Spears has paid a timely tribute to Princess Diana
‘She never wanted to be the queen,’ Britney began writing to her 29.9million followers, alongside a classic photo of Diana, Princess of Wales, who tragically died in a 1997 car collision.
Like Diana, who was 36 when she died, Britney, 39, has also found her troubled life to be the subject of television fodder for the BBC, after they released the controversial documentary The Battle For Britney: Fans, Cash And A Conservatorship, earlier this month.
Britney slammed the documentary herself as ‘hypocritical’ in a separate Instagram post at the time.
The singer continued in her tribute on Diana to say: ‘She wanted to be the heart of the people! She was more than class… she was sheer genius down to the way she spoke to the way she mothered her children.’
‘The essence of being completely oblivious to her own power !!!! 750 MILLION people watched her get married on TV!!!! She will always be remembered as one of the most remarkable women to date.’
Tribute: Britney wrote this message on Thursday to her 29.9m followers on Instagram
Portrait: Pop singer Spears chose a photo from this series of the late Royal, by photographer Anwar Hussein who she credited in the post
Spears is currently locked in a conservatorship battle with her father Jamie Spears, who still has full control over her life, despite the fact she is a grown woman, and the mother of two children.
The timing of Spears’ is post is of interest, as it comes amid a storm of controversy over the 1995 Panorama interview that Diana gave to Martin Bashir under questionable circumstances.
The BBC is said to have sent personal letters of apology to her sons Prince William, Prince Harry and other royals over Bashir’s alleged lies to persuade Diana to agree to the bombshell interview.
Spears herself has also seen her troubled life become a talking point in a major television show, when the documentary Framing Britney Spears was released earlier this year, as well as another planned series by the BBC.
Fitting: Britney Spears called Princess Diana a ‘sheer genius’ in a tribute post on Thursday (left, the singer in 2001, and right, Diana in 1996)
Earlier this month, slammed documentaries about her life as ‘hypocritical,’ taking them to task in an Instagram post in which she also derided claims she isn’t in charge of her own social media.
The Toxic singer appeared to be pointing a finger at the much watched New York Times documentary Framing Britney Spears and at the BBC’s The Battle For Britney: Fans, Cash And A Conservatorship.
Both productions detail the pop superstar’s mental health issues that ultimately led to her father Jamie obtaining control of her person and estate in a conservatorship 13 years ago as well as the media frenzy surrounding her very public breakdown.
In her Instagram post, Spears observed: ‘These documentaries are so hypocritical … they criticize the media and then do the same thing????? Damn …’
Referring to the documentaries, she shared with fans that while the attention is ‘flattering’, she doesn’t enjoy having the most ‘negative and traumatizing’ parts of her life being revisited in this way.
‘So many documentaries about me this year with other people’s takes on my life… what can I say … I’m deeply flattered !!!!’ she wrote.
Britney explained that while she’s endured a lot, she’s also enjoyed some ‘amazing times,’ things that don’t get focused on in the dramatic docs.
‘I don’t know y’all but I’m thrilled to remind you all that although I’ve had some pretty tough times in my life…’ she said.
‘I’ve had waaaayyyy more amazing times in my life and unfortunately my friends … I think the world is more interested in the negative!!!!’
Royalty: One is known to the world as the People’s Princess, while the other is considered to be the world’s Princess of Pop
She added: ‘I mean … isn’t this supposed to be a business and society about THE FUTURE ???? Why highlight the most negative and traumatizing times in my life from forever ago ???? I mean DAMN.’
The singer’s message comes as she prepares to address her conservatorship in court next month.
Meanwhile, Britney is known for her quirky Instagram posts, which often include her musings on historical figures, having dedicated several posts to Albert Einstein.
However, her tribute to Princess Diana is an interesting one, considering that critics have previously compared to the two as so-called ‘tragic blondes’ in popular culture.
In 2009, Vanity Fair writer Steve Dennis wrote an article about ‘The Diana-Britney Connection’ writing, ‘In many respects, these are two women whose fame consumed and defined them, and left them lost as private people within the bubble.’