What next for Jacko's 3 children?
MICHAEL Jackson’s three children were caught in the middle of a looming three-way custody battle last night.
The troubled star had made Prince Michael, 12, Paris 11, and Prince Michael II, seven, an integral part of his bizarre private world.
Since Jackson was divorced from Debbie Rowe, mother of the two elder children, and never knew the surrogate mother of his third, he was effectively a lone parent.
But friends and aides said the contenders to look after them are Jackson’s mother Katherine, 79, Ms Rowe, 50, and their beloved nanny Grace Rwaramba, 42.
Any legal battle would be spiced up by the family’s rights to what, if anything, remains of the singer’s multi-million-pound fortune.
Last night TMZ, the American website which broke the story of Jackson’s death, claimed Ms Rowe was favourite to get custody.
They quoted legal sources as saying Rowe never gave up her parental right to custody.
It added: “As a result, under California law, Rowe is now presumed to be the person who will get custody. The only way Rowe can be denied custody is if a court determines it would be ‘detrimental to the children’.”
But this was not the opinion of the Jackson family lawyer. Brian Oxman said their grandmother was a strong candidate because the children had lived with her and their father for the last six months.
Mr Oxman said: “Probably Mrs Jackson will take care of them, she loves them dearly.”
He told a US TV show: “We will have to see how that plays out in a court of law. I suspect that the death of Michael Jackson is only the beginning of the legal battles over not only his property, but also his children.”
Mr Oxman added: “It is my experience in a court of law that, when one of the parties passes away, there’s always a claim of a natural parent.
“So, whatever the contracts were and whatever the agreements were, there is always the prospect of legal proceedings and how successful the outcome. Boy, oh boy, it is your guess and my guess. We just don’t know, and we’ll have to watch it play out as it does all by itself.”
In another interview Mr Oxman said: “Oh my goodness. The explosion is about to begin.”
Jackson wed Ms Rowe 13 years ago, shortly after he was divorced from Lisa-Marie Presley, 41, daughter of Elvis Presley.
The Australian-born nurse was six months pregnant with Prince Michael. Both he and Paris, and their half-brother, were born through artificial insemination.
The couple divorced in 1999 and their father took over sole custody.However, their mother contested the arrangement after Jackson was accused of molesting a boy.
Eventually they settled their dispute and Ms Rowe was allowed access. She said in a recent interview: “Michael and I are fine. I see him and the kids all the time.”
Prince Michael II – also called Blanket – was born to a surrogate mother Jackson never met and whose identity has never been revealed.
Ms Rwaramba worked for Jackson for 20 years, starting as an office assistant, but gradually playing a bigger part in the family’s life. Three years ago the two were said to be considering marriage.
Stacey Brown, an old friend of Jackson and author of Michael Jackson Behind the Mask, said: “Michael’s mother Katherine wants the kids. But Michael always said he wants Grace to have them if something happened to him.”
Jackson retained custody of his children despite two investigations into alleged sex offences and criticism he treated them like toys.In 2002, he caused a furore by dangling baby Prince Michael II out of a third-floor hotel balcony on tour.
All three children were taught to mirror his eccentricities, appearing in public with miniature versions of his trademark face mask.
It was only recently that their faces were seen for the first time.
Later, when they realised there was an audience, they donned feathered pink and green masks.
Despite accusations that the fair-skinned boy and girl were not his biological children, the singer always insisted they were.
Mark Lester, the English child star who was godfather to his children, said: “The kids were everything to Michael. They were his whole life.”
Ken Ehrlich, another friend and executive producer of the Grammy Awards show, added that although an out-and-out professional, Jackson became the ultimate father when he saw the children.
“All of a sudden, all of the show business, all the entertainment, all of that was aside. He was a father, and he was their father. He was their guardian.
“It was pretty amazing to watch him with them because you could see the love both ways.”
