Did Ditzy Britney Turn Genius in Divorce?

Nov. 8, 2006 — -- It's not just leaving Kevin Federline that has star watchers cheering -- it's how Britney Spears chose to do it.

The pop star's Election Day surprise -- coming one day after she showed off her new, slimmed-down look on late-night TV -- was a masterful public relations move to launch her post-K-Fed career.

And she heads to divorce court with what lawyers are calling "an ironclad prenup" that will shelter her multimillion-dollar fortune.

"You've got to love the timing," says Jill Dobson, news editor at Star magazine. "The Letterman appearance was a last-minute thing. She obviously didn't talk about it on the show. But she wasn't wearing a wedding ring.

"Then, a day later, she drops the bomb -- during a national election -- when everybody is watching the news, and journalists work overtime."

Famed divorce lawyer Raoul Felder agreed that for Spears, "Election Day is probably the best day of the year to announce a divorce."

"She waited till she got herself back in shape, and then got rid of her husband," Felder says. "Now she can reinvent herself."

A dark cloud of bad publicity had followed the 24-year-old singer since she married the 28-year-old dancer, who had dreams of becoming a rap star.

Federline had abandoned a Shar Jackson, the mother of two of his children, when he started to date Spears. At the time, Jackson was pregnant with one of his children.

The club-hopping couple soon became a tabloid sensation, and they attempted to capitalize on their well-publicized exploits in the self-filmed reality show, "Britney & Kevin: Chaotic."

"Their marriage was just one disaster after the next," says Michelle Lee, executive editor of In Touch. "The divorce was inevitable."

This was Britney's second marriage. Eight months before marrying Federline, she tied the knot with childhood friend Jason Alexander after a heavy night of partying in Las Vegas -- and the marriage was annulled 55 hours later.