WORLD EXCLUSIVE: Jackson's secret girlfriend was his children's former nanny Grace Rwaramba

By Lara Gould and Will Payne 5/07/2009

Jacko's personal photographer Ian Barkley says: Grace loved Michael and he loved her.. it was an open secret among staff

Michael Jackson had a secret girlfriend who his children called "mom", close friends of the singer have told the Sunday Mirror.

We can reveal that the star was in a long-term relationship with Ugandan-born Grace Rwaramba at the time he died.

Ian Barkley, who travelled the world with Jacko for three years as his personal photographer, says the couple's romance was an open secret among staff after they fell in love while she was nanny to his children.

Ian told how, behind closed doors, Grace, 42, acted like a normal mum to Jackson's kids Prince Michael, 12, Paris Katherine, 11 and six-year-old Prince Michael II.

"Grace loved Michael and he loved her," he said. "The kids called her 'Mom'."

Last week Jackson's former head of security Matt Fiddes revealed the King of Pop had a secret lover - but refused to reveal her name.

Fiddes, 30, who has known Jacko since the 1990s, said: "The family were aware that there was someone special in his life who he loved and adored and had his ups and downs with.

"For some time she's been present in his life. She wasn't a celebrity figure - absolutely not. I imagine she is distraught right now."

Another of Jackson's bodyguards said: "Matt was referring to Grace. They were more like a married couple than employer and employee."

The minder, who asked not to be identified added: "Grace was the closest person to Michael and the kids. She will be broken-hearted. The children were always their joint priority and like any couple they'd row if they disagreed about how they were being brought up.

"But the difference between Grace and other women in Michael's life was that she had absolutely no interest in fame. It was something she actively avoided and Michael was determined to keep her and their relationship out of the public gaze.

"The romance was well-known among staff but it was made very clear to them that this was not something that should become part of the public domain."

Grace was introduced to Jacko by his former spokesman Dr Tohme R Tohme in 1991. She started out as a secretary before working her way up to become the most important woman in the superstar's life.

In 1999 she was picked to care for Jackson's oldest kids following his divorce from second wife Debbie Rowe. She became the dominant figure in their lives with one insider noting: "Everything is done Grace's way."

Six years later, Jackson asked her to take the children to meet the oldest kids' surrogate mother Debbie Rowe. Debbie was said to be stunned when she heard the kids call Grace "Mom". The bond between them was so strong that it was Grace the kids reportedly cried for after hearing of their father's death 10 days ago.

This week Grace was back in Beverly Hills after Jackson's family asked her to help comfort the kids. She is expected to be among the chief mourners at the private family funeral on Tuesday.

Barkley, a key member of Jacko's inner circle between 2002 and 2005, believes the children should live with Grace rather than Jackson's mum, who has temporary custody.

But Debbie Rowe is preparing to launch her own multi-million-dollar custody bid.

Ian added: "Though I love Michael's mum Katherine, she is 79 and if she passes on, the best place for the kids to go would be to Grace. She really raised them. She was with them day in and day out. She really loved them and they they adored her as they would a mother."

Stunning Grace, who also had a short-lived romance with Jackson's older brother Jermaine in the early Nineties, said last week she quit the US in December after being sacked by Jacko. The drug-addled star was said to have become jealous of her closeness to the children.

Grace had been sacked on several other occasions only to be re-employed. Once she was dismissed for calling Jackson's mother and sister to ask them to intervene over his drug problems.

She has said that in recent months he had become dirty and unkempt, and had so little ready money he could not even afford balloons to mark Paris's birthday - adding that Katherine phoned her the day after his death to ask where money was hidden in his house.

Grace revealed Michael hid cash in black bags under carpets at his Los Angeles mansion. The former nanny this year set up home in London, where the Thriller singer was due to stage his 50-date comeback shows this month.

Jackson was drawn to Grace because of their shared interest in helping children in poverty. She backed his idea to adopt five kids from developing countries and two years ago the couple were said to be planning a major humanitarian campaign to help destitute children.

Grace was also credited for convincing the star that he could make a full-scale comeback and reclaim his King of Pop crown.

The loyal nanny, who describes Jacko's kids as as "my babies", told a TV interviewer last week: "I took them in my arms on the first day of each of their lives."

She is said to have wielded so much power in the Jackson household that she controlled all access to the singer - even deciding which family members could speak to him.

Three years ago she reportedly barred Michael's dad Joe from the family mansion.

A year later it was rumoured the couple had secretly married but this was denied by Grace, who is still legally married to first husband Stacey Adair.