Posted by Adam

Monday July 13, 2009

Michael Jackson‘s mother, Katherine Jackson, has made a deal with the tragic superstar’s ex-wife Debbie Rowe.

Rowe — who was married to the King of Pop from 1996 – 1999 — agreed to drop her custody claim on Prince Michael I, 12, and Paris Katherine, 11 — her two children with Jacko — as long as Michael’s father, Joseph Jackson, wouldn’t have a say in the kids’ upbringing.

“The last thing she wanted was for those kids to be looked after by Joe and go through what Michael went through,” a source told the Sunday Mirror newspaper.

“Michael [had] poured out his heart about how much he loathed Joe for what he had done.”

Under the tentative deal struck by Katherine and “Miss Debbie” — as she’s known to the kids not Mom — Rowe promised not to pursue a custody battle in exchange for monthly supervised visits, a source told the New York Post.

Although still married, Jacko’s parents, Katherine and Joe, have lived apart for years.

The deal will come as a relief for the Jackson family, who were reportedly livid at Joe’s plans for Michael’s children.”

“Joe wants the children to go on a world tour in 2010. He has also already offered recording contracts to two of Michael’s kids,”  biographer Ian Halperin told British newspaper The Sun. “Now he is talking about getting them the world’s best backing band and taking them on tour as The Jackson Three.

“One of the family members is livid. He is saying Joe seems intent to do this no matter what.

“He wants to exploit the kids the same way he did Michael.”

Jacko died June 25 after suffering an apparent cardiac arrest at his home in Los Angeles.

But before his death, Jacko was adamant his father wouldn’t be allowed near his children.

“Michael talked so much about his kids,” a source told American tabloid the National Enquirer. “He said he was doing his comeback concerts just for them. He hoped to give them financial security.

“It was as though he’d had a premonition of his own death. The one thing he wanted — and insisted upon — was that his father Joe didn’t get anywhere near his kids.

“With Michael dying, I know the last thing he wanted was for Joe to play any part in the raising of his children. He told me, ‘I don’t want Joseph near my kids. I don’t want him doing to them what he did to me.’

“He said, ‘My kids are the most important thing in my life. Everything I do, I do for them.’”

The source added, “Who would Michael want to raise his kids? He loved his mother dearly and Katherine is doing the right thing by seeking temporary custody of her grandchildren. He saw his sister Janet as being someone who could help his mom care for the three youngsters.

“They love Katherine and, with the exception of their nanny, Grace, she was the one person who spent the most time with them.”

Tags: debbie rowe, michael jackson