Prince Jackson was born in 1997, the oldest of Michael Jackson’s three children. For most of his life he stayed out of the spotlight. Then in November 2016, at 19 years old, he sat down for a couple of rare interviews and talked openly about his dad.
One question kept coming up. What was the best advice your father ever gave you?
People probably expected something about music, or how to handle fame. After all, this was the son of the King of Pop. But Prince’s answer had nothing to do with any of that.
He told Entertainment Tonight’s Nischelle Turner that his father raised him and his brother and sister to think for themselves. Michael spoke to them seriously, even when they were little. “My dad spoke to me like an adult,” Prince said.
That’s the part most fans never knew. Behind the famous father was a dad quietly getting his kids ready for a world that would always want something from them.
So here’s the advice.
Michael told his son, “Do not trust anyone at face value.” He wanted Prince to slow down and look closer before believing anyone. “You need to verify exactly what it is,” Prince remembered.
He put it another way to the Los Angeles Times. His father told him not to trust someone just because it sounds like a good idea, and to do his own research first. Prince admitted the reason sounds a little harsh, but he understood where it came from. “It sounds bad, but … a lot of people are motivated by themselves,” he said.
For a boy growing up with one of the most famous last names on earth, that warning made sense. Prince said plenty of people wanted to be around him and his siblings simply because of who they were. His dad saw that coming, and he tried to prepare them for it early.
What stands out is how Prince talks about it now. There’s no bitterness in it. He treats the advice as a gift, a piece of his father he carries every day. He said he keeps Michael close by using his metaphors and trying to follow everything his dad taught them.
And he’s clearly proud of where he comes from. “I’m proud to have his name and to be his son,” Prince told the LA Times.
It’s a simple lesson, really. Don’t believe everything you hear. Check it yourself. Coming from Michael Jackson, a man who had seen just about every side of people, it carried extra weight.
See the real photos of Prince with his dad below, and the quiet way Michael tried to get all three of his kids ready for the world.