MICHAEL JACKSON - JACKSON'S PR MAN: 'MICHAEL WANTED A KNIGHTHOOD'

MICHAEL JACKSON spent a fortune trying to buy himself a knighthood, according to the pop star's former right-hand man.

BOB JONES was Jackson's PR expert for 17 years before he was sacked last year (04) and is now exposing the King of Pop's secrets in new book MICHAEL JACKSON: THE MAN BEHIND THE MASK.

And one revelation Jones is making concerns his former boss' desperate bid to become SIR MICHAEL JACKSON.

Jones says, "We spent a fortune trying to communicate with THE QUEEN's people and trying to get them to decide to make him a knight and they weren't interested."

Knighthoods are generally handed out to citizens of the United Kingdom only, but rare foreign knighthoods are considered if the person has made a substantial contribution to relations between their country and Britain.

If Jackson ever fulfills his wish of obtaining a British knighthood, he would be banned from using the title 'Sir', but could add KBE (Knight of the British Empire) after his name.