Michael Jackson‘s mother, Katherine, is quoted as saying that the late pop star’s children will attend school for the first time later this year.
The 80-year-old told Britain’s Mail on Sunday that Jackson’s three children — Prince, 13, Paris, 12, and Blanket, 8 — have had private lessons up until now.
The paper quoted Katherine as saying that the children would go to an unidentified private school starting in September.
The heirs of the King of Pop are normal kids full of fun and pranks, devoted to each other and to their grandmother, who is their guardian, according to a lawyer who sees them frequently.
They talk about their father and his presence is everywhere in the ranch-style house in the San Fernando Valley where they live. Pictures and memorabilia adorn the walls. The gated compound has additional residences where other members of the family have lived over the years.
“The children are seemingly as normal as normal can be under pretty extraordinary circumstances,” says Adam Streisand, the lawyer who represents Katherine Jackson and a frequent visitor to the compound where she lives with the children. He provided an account of life inside their guarded world in an interview with The Associated Press.
The large Jackson family, including eight of Michael’s siblings and their families, has been a source of emotional support for the children, who frequently play with their cousins, Streisand says. And over the past year, Michael Jackson’s parents, children and siblings have moved on with their lives in a world with his music but without him.
The three youngsters have seen Michael Jackson’s final concert movie, “This Is It,” but their grandmother, still devastated by the death of her son last June 25, has not watched it.
If you have a dive band in London, Johnny Depp might be looking for you.
According to The Sun, he’s starting his own record label called Unison Music and has a team scouting for talent – checking out up-and-coming bands in London’s dingy dives.
Depp has been in bands since he got his first acting job and still plays frequently.
He’s played guitar with Oasis on more than one recording and he collaborates with his pal Shane MacGowan of The Pogues.
Stella McCartney’s creating her own Fab Four.
The daughter of Beatle Paul McCartney, Stella , 38, and husband Alasdhair Willis are expecting a fourth child in late fall, a rep for the fashion designer confirmed to Women’s Wear Daily.
The couple, who wed in 2003, are already parents to son Miller Alasdhair James, 5, daughter Bailey Linda Olwyn, 3½, and son Beckett Robert Lee, 2½.
Looks like Angelina Jolie didn’t help longtime beau Brad Pitt celebrate Father’s Day this year.
The actress, 35, made a surprise trip to Haiti over the weekend instead.
No word if Pitt, 46, or any of their children went with her.
During her secret fact-finding trip, the U.N. goodwill ambassador met with U.N. and Haitian officials — including Haiti’s President Rene Preval — to discuss Haitian children left homeless and orphaned by the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake.
According to the Associated Press, she also visited the United Nations Stabilization Mission log base, where she was the star attraction at a reception.
The weekend visit by the “goodwill ambassador” for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was not announced to keep it low-profile.
U.N. officials confirmed the visit when asked by The Associated Press. They agreed to discuss the trip only if not quoted by name because they were asked not to share details of Jolie’s visit.
Jolie has visited Haiti several times. In February she met with orphans and other earthquake victims.
The actress has also visited Iraq, Thailand, Pakistan and other countries on behalf of the U.N. refugee agency.
— lsmith@denverpost.com
