Michael Jackson's three children are still fighting a "daily battle to cope" following the superstar's death a year ago, according to his mother KATHERINE.
The Thriller hitmaker died on 25 June (09) after suffering a cardiac arrest and Katherine was named guardian of his children, Prince, 13, Paris, 12, and eight-year-old Blanket.
She admits the kids are still mourning the loss as the first anniversary of their dad's death approaches - but she hopes plans for them to abandon home-schooling and attend an educational institute with other children will help them recover.
Katherine tells Britain's Sunday Mirror, "It has been a daily battle to cope with our huge loss... (The kids) don't have any friends. They don't go to school, they have private lessons at home - but that will change in September, when they are due to enrol at private (school).
"But they have their cousins and aunts and uncles around them constantly, and that's helped them immensely. To them, it's normal, it's the life they have known. They have a certain time to go to bed, then they get up and get dressed for lessons. They practise karate and swim, which they love."
And the 80 year old reveals Jackson's only daughter Paris still has a shrine dedicated to her late father in her bedroom.
Katherine adds: "I wanted to hang pictures of flowers or ballerinas in Paris' room, the sort of things I expected a girl would like. But she went into a closet and she brought out seven or eight pictures of Michael and she told me, 'No, I want Daddy hanging in my room.' So she goes to bed looking at him and wakes up looking at him. She said, 'I always want to be able to see him.'
"Paris has that lovely way, just like him, and I see his talent in her. Whatever she does, she is very good at it. She's a good artist, she plays the piano and she wants to be an actress."