Jackson parents to end separation with divorce

08/23/2010

The parents of late pop superstar, Michael Jackson, are to join the growing list of late-in-life divorcees, by filing for divorce after 60 years of marriage.

Joe, 81, and Katherine, 80, have been estranged for the last five years, but it is thought that Mrs Jackson decided to make it official after Joe made suggestions that she was in some way to blame for the pop star's sudden death last year.

Speaking out in June this year, the famous family's patriarch claimed to have urged his wife to tend to their 50-year-old son more.

"I begged her to go over and stay with him, but she insisted he needed his privacy," he claimed.
Friends of Katherine say these comments were the last straw for her and she condemned her husbands claims in a release that read, "Joe Jackson's statement and conduct toward Mrs. Jackson are outrageous."

Mrs Jackson now has sole custody of Michael's three children, Prince Michael, 13, Paris, 12, and 'Blanket', 8, in Encino, California. She is a strict Jehovah's Witness, which had made her reluctant to divorce, due to it being frowned upon by the church.

The couple are parents to nine children including Jackson 5 members Michael, Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon. They married in November 1949 and have 26 grand children.

Joe Jackson gained infamy when Michael admitted that he would beat them if they did not perform with the band absolutely perfectly.