Michael Jackson's children 'needed love,' says their former nanny, Grace Rwaramba
The former nanny of Michael Jackson's three children has revealed that they hated the masks the pop star made them wear while in public.
Grace Rwaramba said she would deliberately lose them so that the children did not have to wear them.
But her actions provoked rows with Jackson, who she claims was jealous of their attachment to her. She says the children 'froze' when they saw him, and
that he often fired her when he thought they were becoming too fond of her.
The Rwandan-born nanny worked for Jackson for ten years and is said to have become a mother figure to his three children, Prince Michael Junior, 12, Paris
Michael Katherine, 11, and Prince Michael II, seven, also known as Blanket.
There were periods when the Thriller singer was virtually penniless, she said.
According to journalist Daphne Barak, who spoke to Ms Rwaramba on the night Jackson died, the former nanny said: 'I love my babies. I miss
my babies. I used to hug them and laugh with them. '
However, she said they 'froze' when Michael was around.
'He didn't like me hugging them,' she said. 'But they needed love. I was the only mother they knew.'
In the interview Ms Rwaramba described one occasion when Blanket performed a concert of his father's songs for her, which made her laugh
'so hard' - but that Jackson walked in and ruined the happy scene.
'Usually, the security would alert me that he was about to come,' she said. 'Blanket immediately stopped. The kids looked frightened.'
She said that Jackson was furious - and she knew he would fire her. 'Whenever the children got too attached to me, he would send me away,' he said.
She said the children hated the masks they were forced to wear, supposedly to protect their identities. But she hated the idea, too, and lost them or forgot to
pack them at any opportunity - even though it made Jackson angry. But he apparently didn't notice that they only got lost when Ms Rwaramba was around.
The glamorous 42-year-old also claims she frequently had to pump Jackson's stomach after he took dangerous drug.
She is reported to have said: 'I had to pump his stomach many times. He always mixed so much of it. '
Ms Rwaramba also said she tried to protect the children from their father's excesses. 'There was one period that it was so bad that I didn't let
the children see him,' she reportedly said. 'He always ate too little and mixed too much.'
Ms Rwaramba says that she was dismissed for a final time in December last year. On a previous occasion she says she was sacked after she called in
Jackson's mother Katherine and his sister Janet in an attempt to persuade him to deal with his addiction. He screamed at her 'You betrayed my trust.
You called them behind my back.' Ms Rwaramba assured him she was only trying to help him, but he would not listen.
Ms Rwaramba originally worked for Jackson as an office assistant before becoming his nanny. After Jackson was cleared of child abuse claims in 2005, they moved
to Bahrain, where she said: 'I was happy because he was so down. He was scared..'
They returned to live in California, with Jackson coming under the influence of the Nation of Islam, who supplied bodyguards to the singer.
Ms Rwaramba reportedly claimed they would inflate prices - telling him it cost £60,000 a month to rent a mansion when other similar properties would cost only
£15,000 a month.
Ms Rwaramba said Jackson was clueless about money - and that once he got a $1million (£600,000) job in Japan, but only received $200,000 (£120,000) after all
his people took their share.
Since she stopped working for Jackson, Ms Rwaramba has flown to America several times to see the children. On a visit in April, she said she had to buy
'Happy Birthday' balloons for Paris because Jackson was broke.
Miss Barak says Ms Rwaramba called her a few weeks ago, telling her: 'He doesn't let me see my babies.'
She said he did not reply to letters and had changed his number - but she was receiving reports that the children were 'being neglected'. She claimed
the house was dirty as he didn't pay the housekeeper.
The morning after Jackson died, Ms Rwaramba said she received a phone call from his mother Katherine saying that the tearful children were asking about her -
but then asking if she remembered where Michael used to hide cash in the house.
Ms Rwaramba said: 'This woman just lost her son and she is calling me to know where the money is!'
