Michael Jackson’s three children have opened up about the devastating repercussions following his sudden death and their struggle to cope without their father in an intimate new film.
Forthcoming documentary Remembering Michael Jackson will be a candid account of the family’s personal struggle to deal with the void left by the pop legend’s passing at a rented Los Angeles home in June 2009.
The film will see all three children – Prince Michael, Paris and Prince Michael II, commonly referred to as Blanket – open up about life without Michael and share a series of never before heard stories about the reclusive star.
Paris was filmed giving her account just weeks before she attempted to take her own life at the Jackson family estate.
Speaking wistfully of her father, she admits he died before he could fulfill a promise he made to her.
She said: ‘He promised he would teach me how to moonwalk but never got around to it. I really hope his legacy lives on forever. I will never forget him ever. He was amazing.’
Paris also opened up about their detached lifestyle on Neverland Ranchl, admitting: ‘We didn’t know a lot of kids our own age. We never left the ranch that often.’
But while they rarely left the ranch, which was sold in 2005, younger brother Blanket has fond memories of his time on the sprawling California estate.
‘He had like a zoo, basically. He had giraffes, lions. He had alligators and snakes,’ he recalled. ‘You probably heard of it, but he had a chimp named Bubbles.’
In one of the film’s more stunning revelations, Prince Michael, 16, admits his father didn’t tell him his real name until he was six.
He said: ‘He never really wanted to tell us who he is as a person. It took me until I was six-years old to learn his name was Michael Jackson – he was always daddy to me and that was it.’
All three children are keen to work in the entertainment industry, with Paris – currently residing in a Utah treatment facility following her suicide attempt – hoping to become an actress.
But while grandfather Joe admits it’s ‘a lot more work than she thinks it is,’ he believes Blanket has the potential to follow in their father’s footsteps.
‘They said there would never be another Michael Jackson and I say that we already have one,’ he said. ‘But I said he just has to be trained. That kid is the spitting image of Michael when he was smaller.’
Katherine Jackson funded the new film via crowd sourcing website fundanything.com, a Kickstarter style site that gives users the opportunity to donate money to projects of their choice.
Jackson died on June 25 2009 following an overdose of powerful sedative Propofol, administered by cardiologist Dr. Conrad Murray.
Murray was released from prison earlier this year after seeing out a 2-year jail term for involuntary manslaughter, but concert promoter AIG – responsible for organising the shows – were found not liable for his death in October.
Without naming names, Paris added: ‘There are a lot of bad people out there.’
A trailer for the new film will be available to watch from 2pm exclusively at thesun.co.uk.
