Michael Jackson’s son Prince opens up about his late dad

NEARLY eight years on from the death of Michael Jackson, his son Prince has given a rare interview about growing up with The King of Pop.

NEARLY eight years on from the death of Michael Jackson, his eldest son Prince Michael has given a rare interview about growing up with The King of Pop.

The 20-year-old appeared on Good Morning America and opened up about the shock of suddenly discovering his father was a megastar.

“It took a while — even to this day, I don’t think it [his father’s fame] holds the same weight with us as it does for other people ... because he was our father, our dad,” Prince explained.

“I guess when we kind of realised was when we were watching some videos of his performances — and I’ve been used to seeing females pass out when they see their artist, but what blew my mind was having these huge musclebound dudes fainting and having to be dragged out.

“I was like, ‘OK, there’s something else going on here.’”

Prince Michael Jackson appeared on Good Morning America. Photo: Lorenzo Bevilaqua/ABC via Getty Images

Prince also shared some pearls of wisdom passed down from his late father.

“As we were growing up my dad always said, ‘I really don’t care what you do in life, as long as you’re happy doing it and you’re the best at what you do. If you want to be a janitor at a high school, you should be the best janitor that you can be,’” he said.

“So, I think that he would always be the supporting figure to me and my siblings and support us in all the endeavours that we try.”

Michael Jackson with his kids Prince and Paris in 2005. Photo: Dave M. Benett/Getty Images

Currently, those endeavours are Prince’s charity, Heal LA, which is inspired by his father’s Heal the World organisation that aims to help children of abuse and homelessness.

He also runs his own production company, King’s Son Productions.

“King’s Son Productions has this mantra where a title is earned but a name is given. I was born as Prince, and that was the name my dad had given to me, but my dad had earned the epithet ‘King of Pop.’ That’s through hard work and years of training and everything that he worked so hard to get. So, it’s a form of motivation. My name is Prince, but for all intents and purposes, I’m the King’s son. I am working to get my own epithet.”