Story highlights First lady says offers to leave Syria were attempt to "shatter people's confidence" in her husband

Instagram account portrays glamorous and caring "Syrian Princess Diana"

(CNN) Syria's first lady Asma al-Assad is standing by her man, telling a Russian TV network that she refused offers to flee the war-torn country with her children.

The British-born wife of President Bashar al-Assad said she turned down guarantees of protection and financial security in exchange for leaving Syria.

"Yes I was offered the opportunity to leave Syria, or rather to run from Syria," said Asma in the interview published on the Syrian Presidency's site on Tuesday.

"It doesn't take a genius to know what these people were really after," she continued. "It was never about my well-being or my children. It was a deliberate attempt to shatter people's confidence in their president."

Photos: Syria's first lady Syria's first lady – First lady of Syria Asma al-Assad attends an official dinner at Elysee Palace in Paris, on Jun 25, 2001. She grew up in London and has been married to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for 13 years. She worked for JP Morgan as an investment banker before marrying Bashar in 2000, six months after he became president.

Hide Caption 1 of 31 Photos: Syria's first lady Syria's first lady – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, right, and wife Amsa al-Assad, second from left, speak with the Spanish Queen Sofia and King Juan Carlos as they inaugurate the show "El Esplendor de los Omeyas Cordobeses," on May 3, 2001, in Cordoba, Spain. Hide Caption 2 of 31 Photos: Syria's first lady Syria's first lady – The first lady arrives at No. 10 Downing Street in London to urge a peaceful solution to the Iraqi crisis, on December 16, 2002. Hide Caption 3 of 31 Photos: Syria's first lady Syria's first lady – Asma al-Assad visits her former school, Queens College in central London, on December 17, 2002. Hide Caption 4 of 31 Photos: Syria's first lady Syria's first lady – The first couple meets with Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace in London, on December 17, 2002. Hide Caption 5 of 31 Photos: Syria's first lady Syria's first lady – Bashar al-Assad and Asma al-Assad pose for photographers during their visit to Acropolis archaeological site in Athens, Greece, on December 15, 2003. Hide Caption 6 of 31 Photos: Syria's first lady Syria's first lady – Al-Assad attends the first national childhood conference on February 8, 2004, in Aleppo, Syria. The first lady opened the conference with a speech on the status of children and called on parents to listen to their offspring and help them develop their full potential. Hide Caption 7 of 31 Photos: Syria's first lady Syria's first lady – The first lady walks in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, on March 8, 2004. Hide Caption 8 of 31 Photos: Syria's first lady Syria's first lady – Duchess Camilla speaks with Asma al-Assad in Damascus, Syria, on March 22, 2004. Hide Caption 9 of 31 Photos: Syria's first lady Syria's first lady – The first lady attends an Arab women and war conference on March 8, 2004, in Beirut, Lebanon. Hide Caption 10 of 31 Photos: Syria's first lady Syria's first lady – Al-Assad gets an honorary doctorate from Roberto Antonelli, the president of Rome's La Sapienza University, on October 20, 2004, in the Syrian city of Ebla. Hide Caption 11 of 31 Photos: Syria's first lady Syria's first lady – Asma al-Assad and husband tour the Old City in Damascus with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his wife Amina on December 22, 2004. Hide Caption 12 of 31 Photos: Syria's first lady Syria's first lady – During a visit to Moscow's New Names Foundation, Asma al-Assad was awarded with an honorary doctorate on January 25, 2005. Hide Caption 13 of 31 Photos: Syria's first lady Syria's first lady – The Syrian first lady waves under a portrait of her husband, right, and his late father, former President Hafez al-Assad, during the opening ceremony of the Syrian Special Olympics in Damascus, Syria, on May 15, 2006. Hide Caption 14 of 31 Photos: Syria's first lady Syria's first lady – The Syrian first couple plant a jasmine bush in old Damascus on April 27, 2007. Hide Caption 15 of 31 Photos: Syria's first lady Syria's first lady – In a ride for peace, Asma al-Assad, right, leads a pack of female bicyclists in the Ras Shamra area of Latakia in Syria on April 8, 2007. Hide Caption 16 of 31 Photos: Syria's first lady Syria's first lady – Al-Assad smiles as she leaves the Istanbul Modern Museum in Turkey, on October 18, 2007. The day before her husband told reporters that the capital of Syria, Damascus, would back a possible Turkish incursion into northern Iraq to crack down "against terrorist activities" there. "We support the decisions the Turkish government has put on its agenda against terrorism and terrorist activities." Hide Caption 17 of 31 Photos: Syria's first lady Syria's first lady – On the first day of the Eid al-Adha, Asma al-Assad visits a resident at a home for the elderly in Damascus, on December 19, 2007. Hide Caption 18 of 31 Photos: Syria's first lady Syria's first lady – The Syrian first couple celebrate Orthodox Easter with orphans at the Mar Taqla convent in the village of Ma'loula, Syria, on April 27, 2008. Hide Caption 19 of 31 Photos: Syria's first lady Syria's first lady – Asma al-Assad, left, chats with French Culture Minister Christine Albanel and Syrian artist Mustafa Ali on July 12, 2008, in Paris. Hide Caption 20 of 31 Photos: Syria's first lady Syria's first lady – The first lady attends the opening of the Syrian abstract art exhibition in Damascus on July 21, 2008. Hide Caption 21 of 31 Photos: Syria's first lady Syria's first lady – Al-Assad stands in the hull of a replica of a Phoenician ship being build on the Syrian island of Arwad, on July 19, 2008. The ship is handmade and is being constructed using the first materials utilized by Phoenicians who lived in the region. The ship was launched in August 2008, and carried historians and geographers from all over the world following the ancient trade route which started in Arwad. The ship then sailed across to Africa ending its trip in 2009 in Britain where she was put on display at a museum. Hide Caption 22 of 31 Photos: Syria's first lady Syria's first lady – The first lady visits the Omayyad Mosque in Damascus, on October, 21, 2008. Hide Caption 23 of 31 Photos: Syria's first lady Syria's first lady – Al-Assad plants trees with children during a tree planting campaign in Yafour, Syria, on December 5, 2009. Over 3,000 trees, including pine, cypress, linden and wild pear, were planted. Hide Caption 24 of 31 Photos: Syria's first lady Syria's first lady – The first couple arrive in the capital of Tunis, Tunisia, on July 12, 2010. Hide Caption 25 of 31 Photos: Syria's first lady Syria's first lady – During an athletics gathering in Damascus, al-Assad watches as a young person paints on September 5, 2010. Hide Caption 26 of 31 Photos: Syria's first lady Syria's first lady – Syrian's first couple, left, and Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov review an honor guard on November 9, 2010, during an official welcoming ceremony in Sofia, Bulgaria. It is the first visit to Bulgaria by a Syrian leader in 24 years. Hide Caption 27 of 31 Photos: Syria's first lady Syria's first lady – Asma al-Assad, right, and husband Bashar sit at the Coupole restaurant in Paris on December 10, 2010. Hide Caption 28 of 31 Photos: Syria's first lady Syria's first lady – The couple depart a Claude Monet exhibition on December 11, 2010, in Paris. Hide Caption 29 of 31 Photos: Syria's first lady Syria's first lady – The first lady listens to a speech by her husband, during a rare public appearance in Damascus on January 11, 2012. Al-Assad vowed to defeat a "conspiracy" against Syria, a day after he blamed foreign interests for stoking months of deadly violence. Hide Caption 30 of 31 Photos: Syria's first lady Syria's first lady – Asma al-Assad talks with families of the country's armed and security forces who were killed during the civil war in the capital. Her husband, Bashar al-Assad, set up a committee that will be in charge of taking care of all legal measures regarding families of Syrian troops killed in the fighting against rebels. According to a Syrian Presidency Facebook post on July 11, 2013. Hide Caption 31 of 31

The 41-year-old mother of three added: "I've been here since the beginning, and I never thought of being anywhere else at all."