After the birth of Paris, a pregnancy that was littered
with problems and left her unable to have any more children,
Rowe became increasingly unsatisfied with their arrangement and asked Jackson
for a divorce, which he granted on October 8th, 1999.
As a result, Rowe received around 10 million dollars as a divorce settlement
and gave Jackson full custody rights to her children.
At the time, both Rowe and Jackson requested privacy and asked the public not
to speculate on the reasons for their divorce, citing mounting media speculation
and press intrusion as a primary factor for their marriage breakdown.
They concluded that despite coming
to the end of married life, they would continue to remain friends.
In a 2003 television documentary,
'The Michael Jackson Interview: The Footage You Were Never Meant To See',
a rebuttal video to the Martin Bashir interview 'Living With Michael Jackson',
Rowe attempted to explain her relationship with Jackson and their two children,
quote, My kids don't call me mom because I don't want them to.
They're Michael's children.
It's not that they are not my children,
but I have them because I wanted him to be a father.
People make remarks.
I can't believe she left her children. Left them?
I left my children?
I did not leave my children.
My children are with their father where they are supposed to be.
However, in 2004
Rowe legally applied for temporary custody of her two children or at least rights
for visitation during Michael Jackson's much publicized legal drama when he was
accused again of child molestation, a trial she testified
at for the prosecution. A damaging blow to prosecutors as she
described how she had tried to protect him from the mother of his teenage accuser.
Debbie Rowe also portrayed Jackson as
an innocent victim of the opportunistic vultures running his affairs
that the singer was, quote, easily manipulated, especially if he was scared.
His former wife said tearfully, quote, There are different Michaels.
There's my Michael,
and then there is the Michael that everyone else sees.
When Rowe's tearful testimony damaged the prosecution in Jackson's trial,
some observers suggested the King of Pop would reward her with generous visitation
with the kids she legally gave up to him in their divorce.
A judge later ruled Rowe's surrender of parental rights was invalid due
to procedural errors, and she got a second chance at the bargaining table.
But after months of legal wrangling,
Rowe didn't even score a regular schedule of visits with the children
she wept for on the witness stand.
Instead, Rowe was at the mercy of Jackson,
who was now living at least part time in Bahrain, and his nanny to arrange visits
when she asked for them, quote, There is no specific number of times
that she can see them. It's by request on a case-by-case basis.
Although Jackson smiled and batted his
eyes at Rowe in court, he showed little interest in rekindling their friendship.
A source close to the situation said,
quote, A phone call to say thanks would have been nice.
It didn't happen.
He truly does not want her in his life.
Following the singer's death in 2009, his mother, Katherine,
was made the permanent guardian of Prince, Paris and their half brother, Blanket.
In addition, a new custody arrangement was
made with Rowe, who now had visitation rights with her two children but would
receive no money beyond the spousal agreement already in place,
reportedly worth 8.5 million dollars. A statement said,
the timing, frequency and manner of Rowe's
visits would be determined after consultation with a child psychologist.
Despite Debbie Rowe's attempt to remain in her biological children's lives.
Paris Jackson told Rolling Stone in 2017,
quote, When I was really, really young, my mom didn't exist.
After realizing she must have a mother,
she asked her brother, Prince and father about the truth.
She continued, quote.
And he's like, Yeah.
And I was like, what's her name?
And he's just like, Debbie.
And I was like, OK, well, I know the name.
After her father's sudden death, Harris started researching her mother
and finally met her again when she was 13 years old.
While it is not clear how close
of a connection they maintained during the years which followed.
Paris was part of her mother's life when
in 2016, Debbie was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Speaking on Entertainment Tonight about
her diagnosis, Debbie spoke of her bond with Paris.
She said, quote, She is my rock.
She's amazing.
She has been with me the whole time.
Later, both Paris and Prince gave updates during
their mother's chemotherapy, which ended in January 2017.
However, in a 2017 interview,
Prince said little about his relationship with Debbie, saying Paris needed a mother
figure, hence her decision to find her after Michael's death.
Paris said, quote, I've had a lot of mother figures,
but by the time my mom came into my life, it wasn't a mommy thing.
It's more of an adult relationship.
We're both very stubborn.
Then in 2018, it was reported Paris cut ties with her
mother and moved to a commune in Topanga Canyon, Los Angeles.
However, in 2019, images were released of the pair sharing
a maternal embrace at Paris concert with her then boyfriend, Gabriel Glenn,
whom Debbie said she had met and approved of.
Today, it is unclear if they've remained in touch, as they have not been seen together since,
and both rarely do interviews or speak of their private life publicly.