Michael Jackson longed for children for years. The Thriller singer loved kids and was always excited to become a father himself. After his marriage with Lisa Marie Presley broke down in 1996, he moved on and met his soon-to-be second wife Debbie Rowe. After the announcement that Rowe was pregnant with Michael’s child, they got married in November 1996.
The couple’s first child, Prince Jackson, was born on February 13, 1997.
Just a year later, Rowe gave birth to Michael’s second child, Paris Jackson, on April 3, 1998.
Michael decided to name his daughter Paris because of a pact he made alongside his sister, La Toya Jackson and his close friend, Kathy Hilton.
Kathy Hilton is a fashion designer from New York, New York, and the mother of Paris Hilton.
READ MORE: Michael Jackson ‘had 3am phone calls with Princess Diana’
Michael and Kathy were such good friends they discussed naming their children the same thing, as revealed by La Toya years later.
La Toya told Yahoo in 2012: “It’s so funny because when we were growing up, we all said that we were going to [one day] have children.
“And I told [Michael and Kathy]: ‘Well, I’m going to name my first son Prince and my first daughter Paris.’
“We all said it. Then Kathy had kids, she did it. Michael had kids, he did it. And me, well, I only had dogs!”
What do you think? Should the parents have named their kids the same? Join the debate in the comments section here
Kathy continued: “And then when I moved to New York and he would come, and we’d always go to his concerts. And, you know, we started with – we used to make prank phone calls together. And we were little kids.”
Paris Hilton also spoke candidly about experiencing losing Michael two years prior in 2009.
The singer died of an administered drug overdose. He was 50-years-old.
She said: “One of the first memories I have of him was when my mom [Kathy] took us to the music video set of Thriller.”
Paris went on: “And we have the pictures still. I just always loved him.
“I used to go to his concerts and he’d bring my sister and I on stage, and we’d sing up there.”
SOURCE