The King of Pop’s daughter opened up about life after the death of her father

Paris Jackson opened up about what happened after her dad Michael died

Paris Jackson opened up about how her life drastically changed after the death of her dad, Michael.

She was just 11 years old when the King of Pop passed away on 25 June, 2009, just weeks before he was due to kick off his farewell tour, This Is It.

Billions of people watched the young girl take to the stage to pay tribute to the late star at his televised memorial service where she dubbed him the ‘best father you could ever imagine’ before bursting into tears as her aunt Janet consoled her.

In wake of his shock death, Paris and her brothers Prince and Blanket were taken in by their grandmother Katherine – a strict Jehovah’s Witness who led a very different lifestyle to the one Michael’s kids were accustomed to.

Speaking to Willow Smith during an episode of Red Table Talk in 2021, Paris explained how she dealt with the loss of her father and readjusted to life without him.

She was asked how she found ‘the strength to keep going’ after his passing at the age of 50, to which she replied: “I don’t know, it kind of just happened.”

Paris, who incredibly covered all of her 80 tattoos with makeup for this years Grammy Awards, said: “I was so young that I wasn’t conscious of ‘I’ve gotta keep going’.

Mark Terrill-Pool/Getty Images

She explained: “I was just going through the motions and didn’t really understand what was happening, and so I just went with what I was told to do and, ‘Okay, I’m living here now, okay, I’m going to school now and I’m not home-schooled anymore, I’ll just do what I’m told’.

“Because I didn’t really have much guidance.”

Willow then touched on how the siblings come to terms with the Jackson family matriarch, Katherine, being named as their permanent guardian.

The singer said: “The children went from home-schooling and travelling the world with their father to attending traditional school and living under Katherine’s strict Jehovah’s Witness beliefs.”

Paris said she had ‘love and respect’ for all of her relatives who helped raise them and said the Jackson brood all remained close with one another.

She continued: “I’m still very close with my brothers, and I see my family during family reunions and I tell them all the time, ‘If you wanna call me, call me. I’ve got love and respect for all you guys’.

“I just saw my cousins for Thanksgiving and Christmas, even though we don’t call it that because a lot of them are Jehovah’s Witnesses [who don’t celebrate holidays or birthdays], so we’re just like ‘family reunion during the holidays’.”

Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Paris, now 25, also discussed her relationship with her and Prince’s mother Debbie Rowe, who she was estranged from for the majority of her childhood.

She married Michael in 1996 and brought two children into the world with him, but admitted she never intended to become a parent and ‘did it for him’.

“You earn the title parent,” Debbie previously said. “I have done absolutely nothing to earn that title. That is because Michael did all the parenting. I didn’t do it to be a mother.

“I didn’t change diapers. I didn’t get up in the middle of the night, even when I was there, Michael did it all.”

Debbie gave up custody of the children when her and the music legend divorced in 2000 and she only reconnected with her daughter Paris when she was 15.

Paris said of their relationship: “It’s cool. I mean, getting to know her, seeing how similar we are, getting into what kind of music she likes – and she really likes country and folk.”

Saying how she and her mum ‘look a lot alike’, she added: “It’s just cool having her as a friend. It’s very chilled, which I love.”

Debbie previously described Paris as her ‘rock’ when she was undergoing cancer treatment, which wrapped up in 2017.