Michael Jackson’s mother Katherine has opened up on her decision to remove her grand children’s masks, after they were raised to wear them by their father.
The 83-year-old matriarch gave the trio Prince, Paris and Blanket the freedom to walk in public without their faces covered after she was given custody of them following Michael’s death in June 2009.
Speaking to Hello! Magazine, Mrs. Jackson said: “They were sheltered a lot when Michael raised them. I had thought about it and I said, ‘I am not going to raise them like that (wearing masks).’ But Michael had a good reason. He was trying to protect them.”
Mrs. Jackson also opened up on her granddaughter’s health, admitting she is “doing much better” after her suicide attempt in June. The 15-year-old was rushed to the hospital from the family home in Los Angeles after cutting her wrists and swallowing a large number of painkillers. She is now being treated in a secluded residential facility.
“She is in a good place, getting the help she needs,” said Katherine, who shares legal guardianship of Paris and her brothers, Prince, 16, and Blanket, 11, with her grandson, TJ. “She is doing much better. The treatment is going good, really good. She’s my baby. It’s hard for me, really hard. All I wanted these kids to be is happy. The night Michael died Paris was crying and said, ‘I want to go and see Daddy, I don’t want to be without him.’
Mrs. Jackson said “not a day goes by” she does not think of the singer, whom she called “a very good father” and “a good son.” She said the children were “incredibly polite” and that was all because of their father.
“He instilled good manners but it’s a different generation, of course, and I don’t understand the whole social media thing. They are always on their phones,” said Katherine.
(Photo: AP)
