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London, England Arrival
19 February
Wednesday Daytime
Michael arrived at Stansted Airport, east of London, in a hired private jet which has loads of toys in it: toy guns, a large plastic bucket of teddy bears, and Ecto-Z Ghostbusters game, and a labyrinth puzzle.
While the customs folk check everything on board, Michael swirls off through an emergency exit in a Daimler with his ten-year-old [friend] Brett, thus foxing the fans who were waiting at the customs exit. Arrives at The Dorchester Hotel in London. Foxes fans again by not using the sneaky side-entrance, walks straight through the front door instead, having a big giggle to himself and clutching a toy car in his mitt. He gets a good laugh at his own jokes, does “Mike”.
Wednesday Night
Goes to Tower Records in Piccadilly for a midnight shop. Tower Records has already been alerted and closed the shop one hour early--11 p.m. Twenty minutes before his arrival, a bloke pulls up in a car, checks for press “spies”, then radios back to the hotel that they’ve got the “all clear”. Michael arrives in a Sierra with tinted windows. With him are three bodyguards, Brett, and a big bloke who looks [illegible]. Leaps out with a quick “Thanks” and disappears inside. The manager explains where everything is and Michael peeps, “Thanks a lot, all I really want is videos.” He goes off and piles up about 20 videos. “The Simpsons”, “Batman”, “Terminator 2”, and “Daffy Duck”. Hops over to the record section and buys ancient Doris Day records, Neil Diamond, Elton John, old MGM Musical Box Sets… Hovers around the “Soundtracks” section for a while, then back for some more videos. Stays for 35 minutes altogether and leaves with another quick “Thanks!”. We’ve done this kind of thing for Madonna and Prince before”, muses store manager, John Lown. “It must be nice to wander around with all that money! It sounds like a cliche, but he just seems like a normal guy, he was wandering around like any normal customer, but there were no other customers which is weird in itself…”
Wednesday, February 19
Michael flew in from his tour of Africa to Stansted Airport, Essex. To save him from going through customs, officers boarded his private airplane, which was loaded with toys! Michael and his 10-year-old [friend] Brett then escaped through an emergency exit in the airport fence and drove away at top speed in a posh Daimier car. Michael arrived at the Dorchester, a hotel where the cheapest room costs £180 a night. He gave the slip to fans waiting on the side entrance by walking in through the front door! He then booked into the Terrace Suite, which has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, two dining rooms, a sitting room, a view overlooking Hyde Park, and costs £1,175 a night! His 26-strong entourage took over the eighth floor at a cost of £30,000!
11:20pm: Michael went shopping at Tower Records in Piccadilly Circus. He spent 45 minutes browsing round the store and bought £500 worth of records, including some by old-fashioned singers like Neil Diamond and Doris Day. He told staff that he is a big fan of Doris Day. The store manager, Andy Lowe, says Michael was really nice. "He seemed more nervous of me than I was of him!"
Pop superstar Michael Jackson's unexpected visit to Britain was shrouded in mystery today.
Jackson arrived at London's Dorchester last night clutching a toy truck and surrounded by a 26-strong entourage.
...He has moved into a £1,000 a night penthouse suite, but today the only clue to his presence was a small band of fans braving the cold in the hope of seeing their hero.
Michael Jackson's aides have not yet disclosed the purpose of his visit to London, but one possibility is that he plans to visit comedian Benny Hill, who is in hospital after suffering a mild heart attack earlier this month.
Jackson is a big fan of the comedian.
Chaos erupted as the pop star left the hotel shortly after 1pm.
Dozens of young fans, many of whom had been waiting outside since daybreak, flung themselves at his black Mercedes limousine.
Reclusive singer Michael Jackson revealed his love for golden oldies yesterday when he snapped up an armful of Doris Day records.
The pop hero is a huge fan of Fifties girl-next-door star Doris.
But he seemed reluctant to let his young fans in on his Secret Love.
Jackson persuaded record shop bosses to open up in the dead of night for him to browse through the old favorites.