Jackson’s ex ‘will prove she’s mother’

Michael Jackson's former wife Debbie Rowe has reacted to media speculation that she is not the the biological mother of the late pop star's two elder children by saying she is prepared to undergo DNA testing to prove she is.

In the course of a 90-minute telephone interview with NBC TV, Rowe also suggested that she was ready to fight Jackson's mother Katherine for custody of the two children, Prince Michael, 12, and Paris, 11. She would not expect custody of the third child, Prince Michael II, who has a surrogate mother.

However, her lawyer later said she was still undecided about whether to seek custody. Rowe was left out of Jackson's 2002 will, which was filed in court this week. "I have intentionally omitted to provide for my former wife, Deborah Jean Rowe Jackson," it states.

The rumour about Rowe not being the children's natural mother surfaced earlier this week on the website TMZ.com, which reported that neither Jackson nor Rowe were the biological parents. The children were instead conceived by in vitro fertilisation, using donated sperm and eggs, the report claimed.

♦ Memorial service: A decision has finally been made and the service will be held next Tuesaday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, where Jackson was rehearsing for his London concerts shortly before he died last week. Some 11,000 free tickets will be made available to fans for the event.

♦ Final video: Footage of Jackson singing and dancing on stage at the Staples Center on June 23, two days before his death, has been released by his concert promoters, AEG Live. The 94-second clip shows Jackson rehearsing his 1995 hit They Don't Care About Us.