Every mother remembers how she found out her child got married. For Katherine Jackson, it came in a phone call from her son Michael. That call had a twist she still remembered years later.
Katherine is Michael’s mother and the heart of the Jackson family. In 2010 she sat down with Oprah Winfrey for an interview, and she didn’t come alone. Michael’s three children, Prince, Paris and Blanket, joined their grandmother on the show. The interview aired on Nov 8, 2010.
During that conversation, Katherine went back to the day she learned Michael had gotten married.
In 1994 Michael married Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis Presley’s only child. The two of them had a private ceremony in the Dominican Republic on May 26, 1994. They kept it quiet, too. The marriage wasn’t announced until that summer.
So how did Michael’s own mother hear the news?
He told her himself. “He called me after he had married her,” Katherine told Oprah.
Think about how that call must have sounded on her end. Her son had just married in a private ceremony far from home. Now he was on the line with the happy news.
But Michael didn’t stop at sharing the news. He wanted his mom to meet the bride, right then, over the phone. Katherine remembered him saying, “I’m going to put her on the phone.” And he handed it over to his wife, Lisa Marie Presley.
What makes this story so funny is that Katherine had never met Lisa Marie.
“Had you met her before?” Oprah asked.
“No, I hadn’t met her before,” Katherine said.
So there she was, on the line with a voice she’d never heard, being told this was Elvis’s daughter and her new daughter-in-law. Katherine’s reaction was pure mom.
She didn’t believe it.
According to Oprah.com, her response was: “That’s not [Lisa Marie].”
You can almost hear it. Michael was so happy to share the news, and his mother wasn’t buying it.
This fan upload is part of Katherine’s 2010 Oprah interview with Prince, Paris and Blanket, so you can watch the grandmother who told this story with the grandchildren who joined her.
Katherine Jackson and Michael’s children with Oprah
The story didn’t end with a mix-up, either. It has a sweet second half.
Lisa Marie soon saw how much Michael loved his mother. Oprah.com says Lisa Marie said he would do anything for her.
That’s a lovely thing to hear about any son. Oprah wanted to know if Katherine felt that same love from him.
Katherine’s answer was warm. “Yes, I did,” she said. “I felt it too. I truly loved him.”
It’s a simple answer from a mother about her son, and it came all those years after one very confusing phone call. And it says a lot about the man who couldn’t wait to call his mom after his wedding and hand her the phone.