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"Daily Mirror" Newspaper Interview

Date of interview publication confirmed in New York “Daily News” (archived) (“interview published today [September 12, 1994]”)

“Daily Mirror” interview (September 12, 1994) (archived)

As the last frames of favorite old movie flickered on the screen, it was the moment a cynical public had thought would never happen.

Jackson pulled a huge diamond ring from his pocket and asked Elvis Presley's daughter: "You want?"

The couple, dubbed the "Odd Couple", since their wedding in May, have been the focus of intense rumor, innuendo, and speculation.

But now Jackson has broken his silence to speak frankly of their relationship... and the magic moment when he proposed at his Californian ranch, Neverland.

"Lisa Marie and I were sitting in the living room, having a glass of wine one night", he recalls. "We had just finished watching 'All About Eve', starring Bette Davis. We both love that movie.

"I just walked over to her, reached into my pocket, and pulled out a huge diamond ring.

"'So, what do you think?', I asked her. 'You want?'"

"She squealed out, 'Yes, yes yes'. I never even officially popped the question.

"We never actually discussed marriage. It just sort of happened."

Sham

One of Michael's most trusted aides confirms: "They had only made love twice, at least to my knowledge, when Michael proposed."

The story Michael is now telling is an old-fashioned love story. But the couple's joy is mixed with sorrow and anger directed at critics who have branded the marriage a sham.

"This is not a hoax", Michael insists. "I swear it's not.

"I want people to know that I wouldn't marry someone just for publicity. That's just not me. I love her. This is serious. I hope people believe it. If not, then, hey, too bad for them."

The other rumors surrounding their marriage he also dismisses, including the constant stories that Lisa is already pregnant.

"No, that's not true at all", he sighs. "Lisa Marie is not pregnant."

But he admits: "Yes, we want to have children. Yes, we WILL have children."

Then he giggles: "Don't rush me."

Another report he is eager to quash is that he asked Lisa Marie to have her breasts enlarged and thighs liposuctioned.

He snorts: "Ridiculous. Just try telling Lisa Marie what to do. It would never happen. I would never be able to convince her to do anything she didn't really want to do, let alone plastic surgery."

The notion that he married Lisa to get his hands on Elvis' fortune is also dismissed.

His 350 million dollar wealth is by far greater than Lisa will inherit, even if she eventually takes over control of her father's estate from her mum, Priscilla.

And he has NOT asked her to sign a prenuptial agreement to safeguard his own fortune.

Happy

"I would never ask Lisa Marie to sign a prenuptial agreement", he said.

"What kind of marriage would that be? No one marries anyone for money. This is love. I swear it.

"I love Lisa Marie. Why won't people believe that? Why won't the public let me be happy?"

One associate of Jackson's bluntly labels the lack of a prenuptial agreement "a big mistake."

[Article cut off] Michael wants to do. And he didn't want a prenuptial.

"He says he loves her, and he feels they'll be together forever."

Although it is being called the weirdest match in Hollywood, Michael claims it was their similar tastes that drew them together.

Screwball

They love watching slapstick, screwball comedy films, like the Three Stooges, and old movies, particularly ones starring Jackson's great pal Liz Taylor.

They also share a love of animals.

"One of the things that most attracted to me to Lisa is that she gets along well with the many animals in my zoo", he says.

"Elizabeth Taylor, for instance, is scared to death of all the animals, especially the horses.

"But Lisa Marie just loves them. It's hard not to fall in love with a person who can relate to animals."

The couple first met in 1973, when Michael was a 15-year-old still singing with his brothers in The Jackson Five.

He was at the Sahara Tahoe in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, to see Elvis perform.

Cute

"We had just signed with Motown. Motown sent us down there to see The King, to get some tips. And Lisa Marie was backstage. She was a cute little kid", he recalls.

The two became friends and stayed in touch over the years, but romance never occurred to either.

Then, in late December 1993... Michael, 36, decided he wanted to record an Elvis Presley song for his upcoming "HIStory" album.

He contacted Lisa Marie, 25, about the possibility and they started seeing each other regularly.

One of his closest advisers says: "Michael was living full-time at Neverland Ranch.

"And, all of a sudden, here comes Lisa Marie on the stairs in a bathrobe.

"We thought, 'Well, hey, what's up here? She spent the night up there? With Michael?'

"And then here comes Michael down the stairs in his Mickey Mouse pajamas with a big grin on his face.

Orders

"The two were lovey-dovey at breakfast and she hasn't left his side since then. That was in January 1994."

According to staff at Neverland, they knew things were serious when Lisa Marie began dishing out orders to servants.

"Michael started talking about his 'girlfriend', Lisa Marie. And she was around all the time", said one.

"No woman has ever given orders to Michael's servants, except for Elizabeth Taylor--and even she checks with Michael first before she asks for a diet Coke."

Although the couple were spotted once at Disneyland together, they were astonished not to be rumbled earlier.

Lisa Marie was actually present in Las Vegas in February 1994, when Michael taped the "Jackson Family Honors".

She wore a disguise--and not one reporter spotted her.

After the "Jackson Family Honors", Lisa Marie spent a weekend with Michael at tycoon Donald Trump's estate, Mar-A-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida, where they really started to hit it off.

Their secret wedding in the Dominican Republic in May took place after Scientologist Lisa Marie took advantage of the country's 24-hour divorce law to end her seven-year-marriage to Danny Keough.

The claims of lawyer Hugo Alvarez Perez, who married the couple at home in his living room, were initially treated with scorn.

But then Lisa Marie confirmed the marriage though her publicists.

Michael is astonished at the public scorn the announcement attracted."

When he was told one of the reasons was because Lisa Marie's press release only discussed HER feelings for him, he was perplexed.

Duet

"Why should I have to explain how I feel about my wife in a press release?", he asked.

"The press release was Lisa Marie's idea. She wanted to set the record straight. If it was up to me, I would have just said, 'Let people think what they want.'"

A final rumor Michael dismissed was the report that he and Lisa Marie will sing a duet on October 8 at a Tribute to Elvis Presley in Memphis.

But he adds: "We'll be together forever, so there's plenty of time to sing together."

New York “Daily News” (September 12, 1994) (archived)

"This is love," he tells his biographer Randy Taraborrelli in an interview published today in the London Daily Mirror. "I swear it. Why won't the public let me be happy? I don't get it."