Britney Spears answered the infamous question yesterday during a trip to the doc. with daddy, during which she managed to make it clear that she is NOT happy with her new lifestyle.

"My father is going to get mad at everybody", she told her paparazzi homies moments before Jamie Spears barreled through the crowd, yelling for people to get out of the way. Britney also managed to slip a "No" under her breath when a pap asked her "Do you like having your parents around?"

Well OF COURSE Britney doesn't want her parents around ... Suddenly her life of sex, drugs, and rock&roll has been replaced by structure, sobriety, rules, and a teenager's curfew! Deep down, the spoiled pop princess hopefully realizes that her family's "tough love" is exactly what she needs.

But ... what if there is truth to estranged sidekick Sam Lutfi's claims that Mama and Papa Spears are more interested in protecting their assets than their daughter?

An objective voice is hard to come by in this whole Britney saga, with the obvious suspicions flying about Sam's own motives.

Perhaps the best place to look for answers is in Britney's longtime friend and "cousin", Alli Sims, who also seems to have mixed feelings about Britney's folks.

In a February interview with Usmagazine, Alli sounds glad that Britney's parents are back in the picture. "You just need friends and family and everyone to support you and help you through it, and everything will be okay," she says.

But just a week earlier, Alli pointedly tells a paparazzo how she learned that Britney's kids are "getting big" only because she "saw pictures" of them. Her words are cryptic, and reek of disapproval when combined with the mere fact that Britney's folks get to see their grandchildren (and Kevin) more often than their own mother.

So what to make of it?

Let's not forget, Alli might have her own motives. The Hollywood hopeful recently admitted that she wants to team up with Brit Brit to launch her solo pop music career:

"I think we are kind of both open to anything. We are really good friends, we are really close, and we really love working on stuff together. We will definitely collaborate on something."

Translation: "I recognize that Britney is my only way to get famous. So I am going to make absolute certain that I can put her name on my first single."

Well at least Alli's actually using Britney to her face ... unlike a certain other celebrity cling-on!