Britney Spears "can't help but love" her family

She wrote on Instagram: "We all have issues with our family but dear God you can't help how much you love them. I'm not in this picture but I sure as hell feel like I am. On a side note ... If you know me, I've always ended up at this kids table at every function I've ever been to !!! The most elite expensive dinners and I always find myself just like this sitting in the back with the kids."

In the picture, Britney's mother Lynne, 69, her sister Jamie Lynn, 33, her nieces Maddie, 15, and five-year-old Ivey were pictured around a picnic table with Holly Watson, who is Jamie Lynn's mother-in-law.

Britney's father Jamie, 71, and her brother Bryan, 47, were not pictured in the photo.

The '...Baby One More Time' hitmaker - who lives in Los Angeles whilst her family are still based in rural Kentwood, Louisiana - explained that she was sharing the image of her clan even though she herself was missing from it because she still thinks of her family as "absolutely beautiful" and "misses them" even in a "world of chaos and confusion".

She added: "Anyways ... I'm posting this pic because my family is absolutely beautiful and I miss them. So not to sound righteous but in a world of chaos and confusion the trickery of the devil is to mislead you and humiliate you ... and make you think you're less than !!!

"I wanted to share this pic because although I'm not in it ... I sure as hell felt as though I was !!! Pssss swipe to see !!"