An eight-year-old best man, children given as 'gifts' and a pregnant bride: Inside Michael Jackson's mysterious Australian wedding to Debbie Rowe – which ended in turmoil three years later
- Michael Jackson married American nurse Debbie Rowe on November 13, 1996
- The marriage came after divorce ended brief union with Lisa Marie Presley
- Rowe wore a non-traditional black wedding dress, pregnant with Jackson's child
- Jackson's best man was an eight-year-old boy during the secretive ceremony
Michael Jackson shocked the world when he married American nurse Debbie Rowe in a secretive ceremony in Sydney almost 23 years ago - beginning a union that delivered children to the megastar who is now accused of abusing kids in a shocking new documentary.
Debbie Rowe was 37 when she married Jackson, 38, in front of small crowd in Sydney's Sheraton on the Park Hotel in November 13, 1996.
The bizarre ceremony saw Rowe wear a non-traditional black wedding dress while she was was pregnant with the first of two children she would 'gift' to Jackson.
The private wedding took place while Jackson was on tour for his 'HIStory' album.
Jackson's best man was an eight-year-old boy named Anthony, whom the megastar reportedly referred to as his nephew.
News of Jackson's wedding was released by his Los Angeles based publicist, Ms Christina Holevas, and shocked the world.
The secrecy surrounding the wedding was so intense that a member of his touring party refused to confirm or deny the marriage and staff at the Sheraton swore Jackson hadn't left his room, the Irish Times reported.
The pair tied the knot ten days after Jackson told a disbelieving crowd that Rowe was pregnant and due to give birth in February, according to the publication.
Rowe was a nursing assistant to Beverley Hills dermatologist Dr Arnold Klein and met Jackson 15 years before their marriage, while he was having treatment for his skin condition.
Wearing a non-traditional black wedding dress, Rowe (left) was heavily pregnant with the first of two children she would 'gift' to Jackson (right) when they tied the knot
The couple wed in front of a small crowd at Sydney's exclusive Sheraton on the Park Hotel
Rowe was a nursing assistant to Beverley Hills dermatologist Dr Arnold Klein and met Jackson 15 years before their marriage, while he was treating his skin condition
The pair married three months after his divorce from American singer-songwriter Lisa Marie Presley was finalised.
Rowe consoled Jackson following his split and the pair struck up a close friendship.
In contrast to his union with Rowe, Jackson's brief marriage to Presley was a very public relationship filled with prime-time TV interviews and public displays of affection.
ABC News reported Jackson's marriage to Presley was intended to boost his image and distract the public from accusations of child molestation made against him.
In 1994, he settled a sexual abuse lawsuit concerning a 13-year-old boy.
Rowe gave birth to her first child with Jackson, Michael Joseph Jackson Jr - nicknamed Prince Michael - at L.A's Cedars Sinai Hospital in February 13, 1997, four months after their wedding.
'He said ''I really want to be a dad'', and I said ''So be a dad''. He looked at me puzzled,'' Rowe said in a 2003 TV special called Michael Jackson: The Footage You Were Never Meant To See.
'Michael was definitely more excited than I was,' Rowe recalled following her 23-hour labor.
'He was SO excited when I had a contraction. He was welling up ... and then his son was born. The look on his face ... I'd never seen him that happy.'
Their second child, Paris, was born 14 months later.
Jackson said of the birth: 'I snatched her and just went home with all the placenta and everything all over her.'
Rowe and Jackson gave birth to their first child, Prince Michael, in February 1997 - four months after their wedding
Rowe and Jackson ended their marriage in October 1999 and Jackson was given full custody of Prince Michael and Paris.
Rowe said they said split up because she missed having a private life and could no longer deal with public scrutiny.
She willingly gave Jackson custody over their two children, following their divorce.
Rowe, who had very little involvement with their children, said she gave birth as a gift to Jackson, 'for him to become a father'.
'I did it for him to become a father, not for me to become a mother. You earn the title parent. I have done absolutely nothing to earn that title,' she told the court.
'I didn't do it to be a mother. I didn't change diapers. I didn't get up in the middle of the night, even when I was there, Michael did it all,' she said.
A third child, Prince Michael II, also nicknamed Blanket, was born to an unknown surrogate in 2002.
Blanket was known as the child Jackson dangled from a balcony in Germany.
Rowe described her family with Jackson as 'non-traditional' - a situation which made people feel 'uncomfortable'
Thousands of fans, family and friends flocked to Jackson's memorial in Los Angeles following his death in 2009. However, Rowe was absent.
The custody of the three children went to their grandmother, Katherine Jackson, following Jackson's death in 2009.
Rowe was given supervised visitations, despite not having contact with children for nearly 10 years.
Rowe described her family with Jackson as 'non-traditional', which made people feel 'uncomfortable'.
'My kids don't call me mum because I don't want them to. They're Michael's children. It's not that they're not my children, but I had them because I wanted him to be a father,' she said.
Rowe was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016, and was supported by her daughter Paris.
Rowe said she split up Jackson because she missed having a private life and could not longer deal with public scrutiny
The details of his wedding to Rowe follow the release of a new documentary that makes explosive sexual assault claims against Jackson.
Titled 'Leaving Neverland', the documentary details allegations by Wade Robson and James Safechuck that the pop singer repeatedly molested them at his Neverland Rang when they were children.
Jackson's child sex abuse accusers claim his first marriage to Lisa Marie was intended to distract the public from the star's relationships with young boys.
'I remember Michael saying to me that he's going to have to have these public relationships with women, so that people don't think anything,' Safechuck reveals.
'He would always say that he'd have to go get married at some point, but that it wouldn't mean anything.'
The explosive documentary was shown on Channel 10 in two parts on Friday and Saturday night.
The shocking allegations were aired for the first time in the US earlier in the week and have since aired in the UK.
Rowe was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016 and was supported by her daughter Paris (pictured middle in a fan-made image featuring Jackson and Rowe)
Leaving Neverland director Dan Reed said he hoped the allegations will shift opinions on Jackson and has asked fans to 're-evaluate the way we see the singer'.
Reed has been both praised and criticised for the film, with masses of intrigued fans met by protesters at cinemas across the globe.
Defenders of the singer have also fiercely lashed out at the documentary online, calling it a 'mockumentary'.
Jackson adamantly maintained he never harmed children.
In a 1998 interview, Jackson insisted he 'wouldn't care to live' if it weren't for children and blamed the media for being 'so hard on me' in the way it covered his relationship with youngsters.
'Everything I do, every song I write, every song I write, they try to use it against me and it's so upset, I'm so upset about it,' he said.
Jackson's family has called the documentary and news coverage of the accusations a 'public lynching', asserting he was '100 percent innocent'.
His estate has called the documentary a 'rehash of dated and discredited allegations,' and filed a lawsuit against HBO in February, saying it breached a 1992 agreement that the cable channel would not disparage Jackson.
The couple divorced in October 1999 and Jackson was given full custody of Prince Michael and Paris
