Britney Spears was in hospital on suicide watch last night after holding her two sons hostage in a three-hour custody stand-off with armed police.
Doctors fear Britney, who was stretchered from her Beverly Hills home with restraints on her ankles after finally handing over Sean Preston, two, and 15-month-old Jayden James, may have suffered a complete mental breakdown.
Britney, 26, is now allegedly being kept in hospital under California's Code 5150 - known as the "involuntary psychiatric hold".
This legally enables the authorities to detain someone against their will if they are deemed to be a danger to themselves or others.
Use of the 5150 code sparked speculation that the singer had threatened to harm herself or the boys. LA police spokeswoman April Harding refused to comment, but said: "For her own welfare she was transferred to hospital for medical treatment."
Officers were called to Britney's home on Thursday evening after she refused to hand the boys back to aides of her ex-husband Kevin Federline at the end of an official visit.
She is reported to have later barricaded herself and Jayden into a room after allowing Sean to leave with a court-appointed monitor. Police said she seemed to be under the influence of "an unknown substance".
After tense negotiations, during which there were six squad cars, a fire truck and two ambulances at Britney's home while a police helicopter hovered overhead, she agreed to let officers enter.
A source said: "The cops got through the door and tied her down to a stretcher."
The one-time princess of pop was in a pitiful state as she was wheeled from the house and loaded into an ambulance - alternatively laughing hysterically then weeping in despair. Inside the ambulance paramedics seemed to be physically restraining her legs before heading off to LA's Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre with a police escort. As Britney was helped from the ambulance at the hospital she made a one-fingered gesture to waiting photographers.
Legal experts last night said the stand-off had destroyed any hope of Britney winning her vicious custody battle with Kevin Federline.
Federline's lawyers were at an LA court within hours of the siege ending, asking a judge to remove all her visitation rights.
Police were last night awaiting the results of Britney's alcohol and drug tests.
If found positive, she could face charges and be stripped of custody for good. An LA judge has insisted both Britney and Federline, 29, must be drug and alcohol-free while the children are with them.
The showdown came a few hours after Britney gave a long-awaited legal deposition in the custody case.
She arrived at court just after 11.30am - 90 minutes late for a meeting that was due to last two hours. Instead, Britney gave her statement in 14 minutes.
Federline currently has temporary custody of the children while Britney has only limited visits. A judge made the ruling in October after Britney was described as a "habitual, frequent and continuous use of controlled substances and alcohol".
She was allowed to see her sons only if a court-appointed monitor was present. The visits could be ended if the supervisor decided her behaviour endangered the children.
She was also ordered to have random drug and alcohol testing twice a week but has often failed to do so. Britney later won modified visitation rules that let her have one night a week with the boys.
It is thought Britney will be kept in hospital for at least 72 hours while her mental health is evaluated. A source close to the singer's family yesterday insisted that her blood test had come back clean, adding: "Thank God, there were no traces of drugs or alcohol of any kind."
Britney wed Federline in October 2004, three months after they met. They divorced last July.
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