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"I know there are a lot of people who would feel very blessed to be in my position, so I want to use it for important things." As the daughter of “King of Pop” Michael Jackson, Paris Jackson remembers a charmed childhood. That all changed with the death of her father when she was just 11 years old. And while she’s the first to admit that the monumental loss left her emotionally scarred and fighting for her life, she’s also come a long way on the road to recovery --  and happiness.  

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While Paris Jackson may be best known for her famous father, she’s making her own mark with a booming career as a model, actress and social media personality. Here’s a closer look at her journey from princess of Neverland to independence-loving adult.  

A Pop Princess is Born

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Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson was born on April 3, 1998 in Beverly Hills, California to singer Michael Jackson and nurse Debbie Rowe. Together, they shared Paris and her older brother,  Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr., AKA “Prince.” Paris also has a younger half-brother named Prince Michael Jackson II, AKA “Blanket.” (Blanket was born to a surrogate mother, whose identity has never been revealed.) Paris was named for the French city in which she was conceived. 

Jackson and Rowe divorced in 1999, after which Jackson received full custody of the children. Along with her brothers, Paris grew up at Jackson’s famous residence, Neverland Ranch. Her childhood was far from “normal.” For starters, she and her brother Prince shared very famous godparents: Elizabeth Taylor and Macaulay Culkin. And then there’s the fact Jackson had Neverland built to fulfill the things he felt he’d miss out on during his own childhood in the industry. The 2,700-acre fantasyland featured everything from a zoo to its own amusement park.  Jackson also sought to hide his children’s faces from the press, and they often wore masks when they went out in public.

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Despite all of the privileges she enjoyed as Jackon’s child, Paris says she had no idea that her father was famous in those blissful days. “I just thought his name was Dad, Daddy. We didn’t know who he was. But he was our world. And we were his world,” she says. 

Paris also insists that her childhood was surprisingly conventional, all things considered. “We actually had a pretty normal life. Like, we had school every single day, and we had to be good. And if we were good, every other weekend or so, we could choose whether we were gonna go to the movie theater or see the animals or whatever. But if you were on bad behavior, then you wouldn’t get to go do all those things.” 

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While the Jackson kids also had the option to attend normal school, they decided on homeschooling instead. Today, Paris credits her father with teaching her how to make soul food specialties like fried chicken and sweet potato pies. “He was a kick-ass cook,” she recalls. Jackson also passed along his extensive knowledge of all styles of music. “My dad worked with Van Halen, so I got into Van Halen. He worked with Slash, so I got into Guns N’ Roses. He introduced me to Tchaikovsky, Debussy, Earth, Wind and Fire, the Temptations, Tupac, Run-DMC,” explains Paris.

Upon Jackson’s untimely death in 2009, Michael’s mother, Katherine, assumed legal guardianship of his children. In 2010, the Jackson children, alongside Katherine, were interviewed by Oprah Winfrey about life without their father. Paris and Prince also attended the Grammy’s that year to accept a Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of their father. 

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Leaving Neverland Behind

It wasn’t until 2017, however, that 18-year-old Paris would give her first in-depth interview about her life. She told Rolling Stone, “They always say, ‘Time heals,’ but it really doesn’t. You just get used to it. I live life with the mentality of ‘OK, I lost the only thing that has ever been important to me.’ So going forward, anything bad that happens can’t be nearly as bad as what happened before. So I can handle it.” Paris also revealed that her father still visited her in her dreams. “I feel him with me all the time,” she said. 

And while allegations of impropriety haunted Jackson in the years before and after his death,  Paris has only loving memories and believes that her father is innocent of these accusations “Nobody experienced him being a father to them. And if they did, the entire perception of him would be completely and forever changed,” she asserts. 

Paris has several tattoos in Jackson’s honor, including one that reads “FAITH, TRUST AND PIXIE DUST,” a reference to the fact that her father viewed himself as Peter Pan and called his daughter Tinker Bell. “He’s brought me nothing but joy, so why not have constant reminders of joy,” Paris says.

Given their tight bond, Jackson’s untimely death left Paris reeling.  Factor in bullying she encountered after enrolling in an elite private high school, and Paris found herself in a dark place. While struggling with depression and drug addiction in 2013 at the age of 15, she attempted suicide. “It was just self-hatred, low self-esteem, thinking that I couldn't do anything right, not thinking I was worthy of living anymore,” she says. Because it wasn’t her first attempt to end her life, the hospital mandated that she attend a residential therapy program. Of that experience Paris says, “It was great for me. I’m a completely different person.” 

Paris doesn’t need to work due to the fortune she’ll collect from the Michael Jackson Family trust, which is rumored to be in excess of $1 billion. However, she aspires to earn her own money -- and to become a celebrity in her own right. While she sings, writes songs, and plays several instruments, Paris doesn’t know if a career as a musician is her calling. “I’ve always wanted to kind of break off and do my own thing, just ‘cause I feel I enjoy independence very much,” she says. 

Paris has, however, found modeling to be therapeutic. “I’ve had self-esteem issues for a really, really long time. Plenty of people think I'm ugly, and plenty of people don’t. But there’s a moment when I’m modeling where I forget about my self-esteem issues and focus on what the photographer’s telling me -- and I feel pretty.” Signed with IMG Models, she’s graced the covers of Harper’s Bazaar, Narcisse, and Vogue, and also appeared in campaigns for Rag & Bone,  Calvin Klein, and Weejuns by Re/Done. Paris has also found her voice on social media with millions of followers on Twitter and Instagram. She's also testing the waters of an acting career, and made a cameo in the dark cameo Gringo last year. Despite appearing only briefly in the film, USA Today reported that her performance "popped." 

Paris may not become a pop star like Michael, but she takes after him in another way. According to Rolling Stone, she has the same “heal-the-world impulse” as Jackson, along with the status to actually do something about it. “I was born with this platform,” Paris says. “Am I gonna waste it and hide away? Or am I going to make it bigger and use it for more important things?”

Whatever she decides to do with her life, Paris says her father would be proud of her -- on one condition. “If you wanna be bigger than me, you can. If you don’t want to be at all, you can. But I just want you to be happy,” Jackson urged. 

Jackson would be pleased, then, as a 2017 Harper’s Bazaar article reported that Paris was finally both “happy and carefree” thanks to a tight-knit group of friends, her strong relationship with her older brother, and frequent camping trips to Joshua Tree. And while she may not know exactly what the future holds, Paris is ready to take it on.  “I have a couple of ideas. I have a lot of ideas, but I’m still trying to figure out the right way to do it...I can’t have it all together, but I do have a plan,” she says.