Growing up in Neverland (1997-2005)

1997

February 13 : Debbie Rowe gives birth to Prince Michael Joseph Jackson Jr, first child of Michael, at the Cedar Sinai Medical Center of Los Angeles. Michael attends the birth and then takes his son to Neverland. Grace Rwaramba and Pia Bhatti are hired as Prince’s nannies. Pia moves to Neverland with her husband and their kids Shasta & Omer.

Late February : Michael hosts a Jackson Family Day at Neverland to introduce Prince to the clan. Janet who is in studio in Minneapolis can’t attend the party. LaToya is not invited.

March 25 : British magazine OK gets a world exclusive by publishing the first ever official pictures of Michael & Debbie with their son Prince (at Neverland) accompanied by a candid interview of the couple.

May 29 : Prince Michael Jr is taken to a Paris hotel suit where he is taken care by his nannies Grace & Pia. Michael joins him after each concert of the European tour. Debbie also flies every week end to spend time with Michael & their son.

September 8 : Michael returns to Neverland with Grace & Prince Michael Jr.

Late November : Michael & Prince Michael Jr are on the cover of LIFE magazine with a special photo story at Neverland.

November 25 : Debbie Rowe gives an interview to KNBC filmed at Neverland where she denies tabloid rumors of an affair between Michael & Lisa Marie & announces that she is pregnant with a baby girl that she & Michael want to name Paris Michael Katherine.

December 24/25 : Michael celebrates Christmas at Neverland with Grace, Prince, the Cascios & the Bhattis. Debbie Rowe, who is 5 months pregnant, visits them

1998

February : Michael & Janet see each other for the first time since December 95 in a Los Angeles hotel and MJ introduces her to his son Prince.

February 13 : Michael & Omer host a party for Prince 1st birthday.

April 3 : Debbie Rowe gives birth to Paris Michael Katherine Jackson, second child of Michael, at the Spalding Pain Medical Clinic of Beverly Hills. Michael attends the birth and then takes his baby girl to Neverland where Prince is waiting with Grace, Pia, Omer & Connie Cascio.

October 29 : Michael & Debbie go to the Getty museum in Los Angeles with Prince & Paris.

November 25 : Back in Los Angeles, Michael spend Thanksgiving at Hayvenhurst with the Jackson family + Lisa Marie & her kids. The whole family attends except LaToya who stays in Vegas and Janet (on tour).

December 10 : Michael & Debbie attend a dinner in honour of Dr Arnold Klein. It’s their last public appearance together.

December 20 : Michael takes Prince & Paris to visit the Hilton family in New York.

December 24/25 : Michael celebrates Christmas at Neverland with Prince, Paris, the Cascios & the Bhattis.

December 31 : Michael and the kids spend New Year’s eve on a private yatch near Capri, an island located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrento Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy.

1999

January 14-25 : Michael goes to Johabbesburg with Prince, Paris & their nanny Grace Rwaramba. On the 15th, he attends the Bar Mitzvah of the son of his friends Dean & Darren Cohen. While in South Africa, Michael takes the kids to Sun City.

January 28 : Michael takes Prince to the emergency room of the Cedars Sinai Medical Center of Los Angeles because of a viral infection.

February  13 :  Michael hosts a party at Neverland for Prince’s second birthday with Paris, Grace, Pia & Omer.

Late March : Michael, Prince, Paris and Grace check in the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.

April 03 : Michael hosts a party for Paris 1st birthday at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.

June 29 : Michael, Frank Cascio, Prince, Paris and  Grace arrive in Paris and check in the Plaza Athenée Hotel.

July 5-13 : Michael Grace and the kids stay at Disneyland Paris where they are joined by Debbie & Anton Schleiter, Omer Bhatti and the Cascios kids.

July 14-24 : Michael and his entourage go to Sun City . On the 18th, they attend Nelson Mandela’s birthday. Dominic and Connie Cascio join them.

July 25-27 : Michael and his entourage go to London where Michael meets Mohamed Al Fayed and Prince Naseem.

July 28 : Michael, Frank, Grace and the kids fly back to L.A.

August 29 : Michael is back at Neverland to celebrate his birthday with Grace, Prince, Paris, the Cascios & the Bhattis.

September 11-14 : Michael is in Disneyland Paris with the Cascios, Grace & the kids. Debbie joins them.

October 8 : Debbie officially files for divorce and sign a confidentiality agreement.

October 11-early November : Michael & the kids stay at Neverland.

October 23 : Birth of Royal Jackson, first child of TJ with Frances Casey, first grandchild of Tito and first great grandchild of Joe & Katherine.

December 24/25 : Michael & the kids celebrate Christmas with the Cascios & the Bhattis at Neverland.

2000

Mid January : Michael leaves his townhouse in Manhattan and after a few days of vacation at Neverland, he resumes the recording sessions in Los Angeles with Bruce Swedien.

February 13 : Michael hosts a party for Prince’s 3rd birthday at Neverland.

March : Michael stops the recording and leaves for Europe with Grace, Prince & Paris. They spend time with the Chaplin family in Switzerland.

March 31 : Michael takes Prince & Paris to a zoo in Hamburg. While in town they stays at the Schleiter family house with Anton & Frantcheska.

April 03 : Michael hosts a party for Paris 2nd birthday in Hamburg at the Schleiter family house.

May 7 : Michael takes Prince & Paris to the famous Knie Circus in Zurich.

May 8 : Michael arrives in Monaco with Prince, Paris, Grace, Bob Jones, Karen Faye, Michael Bush & german business man Dieter Wiesner.

May 12 : Michael goes to London with Prince, Paris & Grace & they visit his good friend Mark Lester and his family.

June : Michael & the kids go to switzerland before going back to Neverland.

July 29 : Michael takes the kids to the Siegfried & Roy magical show at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas.

August 29 : The Arvizo and Boteach kids arrange a small party for Michael 42nd birthday at Neverland with the Cascios, Prince & Paris.

October 07 : Alejandra gives birth to Jermajesty and takes him home to Hayvenhurst to live with Genevieve, Randy Jr, Donte, Jaafar, Jermaine, Katherine & Joe.

November : Michael, Frank, Grace & the kids go back to NYC and check in the Four Seasons Hotel.

November 25 : Michael & the kids spend Thanksgiving dinner at Shmuley Boteach home in New Jersey .

December 24/25 : Michael, Grace & the kids celebrate Christmas at the Cascio family home in Franlin Lake in New Jersey.

2001

Early January : Michael, Grace & the kids go back to the Four Seasons Hotel in NYC.

February 13 : Michael hosts a party for Prince’s 4th birthday in NYC.

April : Michael, Grace & the kids spend 2 weeks at Teddy Riley’s home in Virginia where he & Michael work on Invincible. Then they go back to NYC and check in the Plaza Athénée Upper East Side.

Avril 3 : Michael hosts a party for Paris 3rd birthday at Teddy Riley’s home in Virginia where he & Michael work on Invincible. Frank Cascio joins them.

May : Michael, Frank, Grace & the kids check in the Sheraton Bel Harbour in Miami Beach where Michael completes the recording & mixing of Invincible with Bruce Swedien, Rodney Jerkins & Teddy Riley.

July : Michael & the kids go to Miami where Michael completes the final mixing of Invincible.

August 13-21 : Michael takes Prince & Paris on the shooting of the “You Rock My World “ short film in Los Angeles (directed by Paul Hunter and featuring Chris Tucker and a special appearance by Marlon Brando).

August 29 : Michael celebrates his 43rd birthday at the Cascio family home in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey.

September 7 + 10 : Prince & Paris attend Michael’s concerts at the Madison Square Garden in New York City. They hide in the audience with Omer Bhatti.

September 11 : After learning of the terrorist attacks in New York , Michael leaves town with Grace, Prince & Paris and the Cascios. They go at the Cascio family house in New Jersey. The Jackson family rides back to California in a bus.

October 17 : Debbie Rowe goes to the family court in Los Angeles to give up her parental rights on Prince & Paris because she says she has not seen them for a year and do not want to disturb them by making intrusions in their life once in a while.

October 21 : Michael is in Washington DC where he participates at a TV concert for the victims of September 11. He performs “Man In The Mirror” and at the end, he sings “What More Can I Give” with all the artists of the night (including Usher & Mariah Carey) Prince, Paris, Macauley Culkin, the Cascios, Kenny Ortega & Marc Schaffel attend the concert backstage.

December 17 : Michael makes a photoshoot with Prince & Paris at Neverland for an upcoming VIBE magazine coverstory with photographer Jonathan Exley.

December 24/25 : Michael celebrates Christmas at Neverland with the Cascios, the Bhattis, Prince & Paris.

2002

February 13 : Michael hosts a party for Prince’s 5th birthday at Neverland with Grace & the Cascio family.

February 21 : Birth of Michael’s new son Prince Michael II at the Grossmont Hospital in San Diego, California. Soon after Michael accompanied by Connie Cascio pick up the baby from the surrogate’s representative at an hotel and take in to Neverland on a private luxury bus. They soon nickname him Blanket!

April 03 : Michael hosts a party for Paris 4th birthday at Neverland with Prince, Blanket, Brett Barnes and Grace.

April 24 : Michael performs “Dangerous”, “Black Or White” & “Heal The World” (joined by Diana Ross!) during a fund-raiser for the Democratic National Committee’s Every Vote Counts ‘campaign held at the mythic Apollo Theatre in Harlem. It is Michael’s last live performance in front of an audience.

Brett Barnes, Prince, Paris, Blanket, Grace, the Cascio family Chris Tucker & Rodney Jerkins attend the event. Afterwards Michael makes a photoshoot with Bill Clinton.

While in NYC Michael introduces Prince, Paris & Blanket to President Clinton and Diana Ross and his son Evan Ross.

May :  Katherine, Jackie, LaToya, Tito, Janet, Rebbie & Randy stage an intervention at Neverland to help Michael on his prescription-drug dependency. Michael introduces them to Blanket.

August 6 : Michael Siegfried & Roy at The Mirage in Las Vegas and he introduces them to Blanket. Soon after they tell the press that Michael has a new son thus revealing to the world the existence of Prince Michael Jackson II.

November 19 : Michael arrives in Berlin, with his three children and Grace. Later he shocks the world by dangling Blanket over the balcony of his hotel suite because he wanted to show him to the fans.

November 20 : Michael is on the cover of all the tabloids around the world because of the “Balconygate” and although he issues a statement of apologises, he is severly critisized. Michael makes things worse by taking Prince & Paris to the zoo (with Grace, Wiesner & Bashir) but he puts scarfs on their faces to protect their identity which is also severly critisized.

December 1 : Michael takes Prince, Paris & Blanket to Disney World in Orlando with the Cascio family.

December 24/25 : Michael celebrates Christmas at Neverland with Prince, Paris, Blanket, the Cascio family, the Bhatti Family, the Schleiter Family & the Farshchian family.

2003

Early Year : Michael takes Prince, Paris & Blanket to a family day at Hayvenhurst.

January 16 : Michael, Prince & Paris have dinner with the Malnik family in Miami.

February 3 : “Living With Michael Jackson”, the Martin Bashir Documentary is premiered in on ITV and gets phenomenal ratings! Prince, Paris & Blanket appear in the documentary.

February 7 : Michael decides to cancel the press conference and return to Neverland to give an interview. He leaves Miami in a private Jet with Prince, Paris, Blanket, their nannies Grace & Patricia, his physician Dr Alex Farschian, Marie Nicole & Aldo Cascio, the bodygards Mike LaPerruque, Chris Carter & Danny Crawford as well as Gavin, Star, Davellin & Janet Arvizo.

February 13 : Michel hosts a Spiderman theme party for Prince’s 6th birthday at Neverland.

February 21 : Michael hosts Blanket’s first birthday party at the Malnik’s house in Miami.

March 5-9 : Michael & his children stay at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles.

March 31 : Michael & his children go back to Miami where they are the guests of Al Malnik.

April 3 : Michael hosts a party for Paris 5th birthday at Al Malnik’s home in Miami with Prince, Blanket, Grace and the Malnik family.

April 17 : During a shopping spree in Santa Monica with Prince & Paris, Michael meets his sister LaToya!

July 04 : Michael, Grace, Prince, Paris & Blanket spend the Independance Day with the Malnik family and Brett Ratner in Miami Beach.

July 26 : Michael hosts the “Joe Jackson Day” in Neverland (attended by Jermaine, Jackie, Tito, Janet, JD & LaToya) but after too many people show up, he decides to leave the ranch with his children and they go to Monterey to spend the week end.

August 29 : Michael celebrates his 45th birthday at Neverland with family & friends (The Cascios, The Bhattis & The Brandos).

September 6 : Michael invites a group of fans to spend the day with him, Grace & the children at Neverland.

October : Michael invites the whole Jackson family to Neverland for a special photoshoot including Prince, Paris, Blanket, Omer Bhatti, Katherine, Joe, Rebbie, Jermaine, LaToya, Randy, TJ, Auggie among others. For the occasion Michael meets his half sister Joh Vonnie and her daughter Yasmine for the first (and only) time.

October 31 : Michael celebrate Halloween in Las Vegas with the kids.

November 18 : Tom Sneddon raids Neverland with a search warrant accompanied by 7O members of the Santa Barbara County Sherriff. Katherine, Rebbie, LaToya, Jeffre & Jermaine visit Michael at the Mirage Hotel where he just had a nervous breakdown.

November 19 : After destroying his hotel suite Michael is asked to leave the Mirage Hotel with Grace & the Kids. They move to the Green Valley Ranch on the southern outskirts of Las Vegas in Henderson, Nevada.

Early December : Michael, who does not consider Neverland as his home anymore, moves in a rented mansion named Coldwater Canyon House in Beverly Hills with Grace & the kids.

December 20 : Michael returns to Neverland for the first time since it was searched for a private get together entitled “You Are Not Alone” which about 600 friends & family attend (including Janet & LaToya). The event is organised by Grace. Michael attends the celebration surrounded by his parents and siblings. Many friends and family members give speeches of support. Michael also gets to hug his biggest fans like Joanna and Talitha.

December 24 : Michael celebrates Christmas with Prince, Paris, Blanket, Eddie, Aldo & Dominic Jr at the Coldwater Canyon House.

2004

February 01 : Michael, who stays with Grace & the children at his friend Ron Burkle’s house in La Jolla, watches his sister Janet’s Superbowl performance  on TV.

February 13 : Michael hosts a party for Prince’s 7th birthday with Grace & the children at his friend Ron Burkle’s house in La Jolla.

February 16 : Michael, Grace, the kids, Omer Bhatti & Dr Sebi arrive in Old Snowman in Colorado where Michael has rented the Meanwhile ranch (close to Aspen).

February 21 : Michael hosts a party for Blanket’s 2nd birthday with Grace, Prince, Paris, Omer Bhatti & Dr Sebi in Old Snowman in Colorado where Michael has rented the Meanwhile ranch (close to Aspen).

March : Michael, Grace & the kids go to Hawaii.

April 03 : Michael hosts a big party for Paris’s 6th birthday.

April 8 : Michael, Grace & the kids go to Orlando to visit theme parks.

July 4 : Michael celebrates Independance day in Miami with Grace and the kids.

August 16 (Day 1 of pre-trial) : Even though his presence is not complulsory, Michael goes to the Santa Maria courthouse. Accompanied by Katherine, Joe, Janet, LaToya, Jermaine, Jackie, Randy, Grace, Karen, Mesereau & Oxman to watch district attorney Tom Sneddon testify about the search of Brad Miller. After the court Michael & the family go to Neverland to spend time with Prince, Paris & Blanket.

December 24/25 : Michael spends Christmas at Neverland with Prince, Paris, Blanket & Grace.

2005

February 13 : Michael celebrates Prince’s 8th birthday at Neverland.

February 21 : Michael hosts a party for Blanket’s 3rd birthday.

April 3 : Michael celebrates Paris’s 7th birthday at Neverland.

June 3-13 : While Jury deliberations take place, the whole Jackson family waits for the verdict at Neverland.

June 13 : The Jury reaches a verdict. Michael and the Jackson family goes to court where he is acquitted on all counts! They go back to Neverland. The trial is over. Family and friends gather at Neverland to celebrate but Michael is too tired and he goes to sleep early.