CHICAGO — Michael Jackson’s children and mother said on Monday’s episode of “The Oprah Winfrey Show” that they’re still learning to cope with the pop star’s death.
Jackson’s oldest children, 13-year-old Prince and 12-year-old Paris, said they are adjusting well to private school. Their younger brother, Blanket, 8, is still home-schooled. The children have been living with grandmother Katherine Jackson, who is their guardian, since their father’s death in June 2009.
The children were taped in Jackson’s back yard with several cousins and spoke about their memories of their father. Prince, whose birth name is Michael Joseph Jackson Jr., said that when the family lived in Bahrain, he and his father often walked the beach early in the morning drinking Coca-Cola and eating candy. Paris said he took her to art museums and was “the best cook ever.”
“I kind of felt like no one understands what a good father he was,” Paris said.
Katherine Jackson also told Winfrey that she believes her son was addicted to plastic surgery. Jackson’s father, Joe Jackson, also appeared in a brief interview with his wife and acknowledged whipping his children with a strap to keep them out of trouble.
Katherine Jackson said she wants to give the children as normal a childhood as possible, and is more lenient than her son was.
