In November 2002, a single image captured the world’s attention: Michael Jackson holding his nine-month-old son over a hotel balcony railing in Berlin, four stories above a crowd of screaming fans. The moment was captured from multiple angles by photographers below and broadcast globally within hours. Child welfare advocates condemned the gesture as a dangerous lapse in judgment, and the incident dominated entertainment news for days, overshadowing the award ceremony that had brought Jackson to the German capital. Jackson issued a public apology shortly afterward, acknowledging he had made a serious mistake and expressing regret for placing his child in a situation so many people viewed as reckless.
The image became one of the defining visuals of Jackson’s complicated public persona in the final years of his life, and it would follow his youngest son for decades. That baby, Prince Michael Jackson II, later nicknamed Blanket and eventually Bigi, was Michael Jackson’s third child and only son not born to ex-wife Debbie Rowe. Michael’s eldest son, Prince, was born in February 1997 during Jackson’s marriage to Rowe. His daughter, Paris, arrived in April 1998.
The couple divorced in 1999, with Rowe granting Michael full custody of both children as part of an $8. 5 million settlement. Rowe explained her decision in court documents by saying Michael was a wonderful father and she did not wish to share parenting responsibilities with him. Bigi arrived in February 2002, born to an unnamed surrogate mother.
His nickname reportedly came from Michael’s habit of wrapping the infant in a blanket to shield him from photographers. Like his older siblings, Bigi was raised behind veils and masks, with the family making elaborate efforts to keep the children’s faces hidden from public view. The Berlin balcony incident was only a preview of the scrutiny to come. On June 25, 2009, Michael Jackson died at his home in Los Angeles.
Reports at the time indicated that Prince and Paris, then 11 and 10, had reportedly walked into the room and seen their father lying motionless before being quickly ushered away. News helicopters circled the family home for days, and the entire world watched the children’s grief unfold in real time. Michael’s mother, Katherine Jackson, was granted temporary guardianship of all three children almost immediately. But the arrangement was not straightforward.
Debbie Rowe, who had relinquished her parental rights in 2001, sought to have them reinstated following Michael’s 2003 arrest on child molestation charges. An appeals court later ruled that Rowe’s earlier relinquishment had been improperly handled, reopening the door to a custody fight after Michael’s death. For several tense weeks in the summer of 2009, it appeared possible that Rowe might formally challenge Katherine for custody. Reports suggested that part of the underlying tension involved ensuring that Michael’s father, Joe Jackson, whom Michael had accused of abuse during his childhood, could never be granted a guardianship role over the children.
In late July 2009, Rowe and Katherine reached a settlement. Rowe agreed not to pursue custody, instead securing visitation rights, with the timing to be determined by a jointly selected child psychologist. The settlement involved no direct financial payment to Rowe beyond the continued spousal support payments Michael had already agreed to provide. Katherine remained the children’s primary guardian, but questions about her ability to care for them long-term grew as she aged.
In the summer of 2012, a concerning situation unfolded. Rumors surfaced that Katherine, then in her early 80s, had disappeared from the family home. Paris, then 14, took to social media to publicly express her fears, drawing significant attention to the situation. A judge temporarily suspended Katherine’s custody and transferred guardianship to Michael’s nephew, TJ Jackson.
Katherine had reportedly been at a spa retreat in Arizona. She returned within days, dismissed the kidnapping rumors as untrue in a television interview, and eventually regained her guardianship role. The episode exposed how fragile the children’s living situation remained, even years after their father’s death. Of the three children, Paris has lived the most publicly visible adult life.
At her father’s memorial service in July 2009, the then-11-year-old stepped to the microphone, visibly trembling and in tears, and said Michael had been the best father anyone could imagine. The moment instantly transformed her into one of the most photographed young people in the world. In June 2013, when Paris was 15, she was rushed to a Los Angeles hospital following what her mother confirmed to media outlets was an apparent suicide attempt. Reports at the time said the incident followed a period of emotional difficulty compounded by frustration over being prohibited from attending a concert, though family sources suggested deeper, longer-standing struggles had contributed as well.
Those close to the family indicated the Jackson children had not received consistent professional emotional support in the years following their father’s death. In the years since, Paris has spoken openly about her mental health journey, discussing therapy and recovery in interviews and using her platform to normalize conversations around psychological struggles. She built a music and modeling career, releasing original music in a folk and alternative rock style and signing with a major modeling agency, establishing an identity distinct from her father’s legacy. Her personal life has attracted public interest as well.
She became engaged to music producer Justin Long in December 2024, though the relationship had reportedly ended by 2025. In September 2025, she publicly criticized a biographical film about her father’s life, expressing frustration over what she described as significant inaccuracies, before later softening her tone and wishing the cast well while maintaining her preference for honesty over what she characterized as prioritizing sales. Prince has generally maintained a more measured public presence than his sister. He attended Loyola Marymount University, where he studied communications and film production, and graduated in a milestone his family celebrated.
In interviews, he has spoken warmly about small, personal memories of his father. In a 2022 conversation around the 40th anniversary of the album Thriller, he described missing his father’s hands, recalling them as strong and firm yet gentle, and noted that he thought about his father every single day. He has remained involved with preserving his father’s musical legacy, attending the Broadway opening of MJ the Musical in 2022 alongside Paris and later presenting at the Tony Awards that year. In August 2025, Prince announced his engagement to his girlfriend of eight years, Molly Schirmang, describing the moment as an exciting next chapter in a partnership that had already spanned nearly a decade.
The youngest sibling, Bigi, has maintained the lowest public profile of the three. He dealt with persistent teasing over the nickname Blanket, and in 2015, at 15 years old, he legally changed his name to Biggy. By 2017, as Katherine approached her 87th birthday, additional guardianship arrangements were established, with TJ Jackson continuing to play a significant role. Eventually, Michael’s brother, Tito Jackson, became Bigi’s sole legal guardian.
As Bigi grew older, reports emerged of disputes between him and Katherine connected to the management and distribution of funds from his father’s substantial estate. The dispute reportedly centered on how estate funds intended for the children’s benefit were being allocated. Despite the tensions, Bigi has rarely granted interviews and has often declined to pose for red carpet photographs alongside his siblings. When he has spoken publicly, his comments have reflected thoughtfulness about his father’s legacy.
In a rare 2021 interview with Good Morning Britain, he described a shared desire among the siblings to create things people genuinely enjoy while benefiting their lives in meaningful ways. He has also advocated for climate change awareness. More recently, he has pursued filmmaking, winning recognition for his short film directorial debut titled Rochelles, released in 2024. Despite their different paths, the three siblings have remained close.
In August 2023, Prince and Bigi hosted a fan question and answer session in Las Vegas for what would have been their father’s 65th birthday, while Paris paid tribute during a concert of her own in Colorado. All three appeared together at the Broadway opening of MJ the Musical in 2022 and at the production’s West End opening in London in 2024, where they posed together on the red carpet in a rare public image of the three adult Jackson children standing together. More than 15 years after their father’s death, Prince, Paris, and Bigi have each built distinctly different adult lives. Paris chose public openness around her own struggles.
Prince chose quiet consistency and measured engagement. Bigi chose privacy above nearly everything else. Each has found a way to carry forward an extraordinarily complicated inheritance without being entirely consumed by it.