Paris Jackson: My Father Was Incredible

Paris Jackson: My Father Was Incredible - Michael Jackson's daughter has spoken of her "incredible father" and defended her upbringing, insisting that the singer only ever wanted to protect her and her siblings.

In her first ever newspaper interview, 15-year-old Paris said the King of Pop battled to give his children a "normal childhood". 

Paris and her brothers Prince and Blanket, now 16 and 11, were rarely seen in public during Jackson's lifetime. 

When they were, the singer made them wear masks to cover their faces - creating bizarre scenes. 

But Paris, speaking to The Mail on Sunday's Event magazine, said this was only to try and protect them from the public gaze. 

"He didn't want anyone to see what we looked like. That way we could have what he didn't, which was a normal childhood," she said. 

She added: "I have lots of memories of my father. He was an incredible father. We all loved him to death. 

"He'd try to educate us as much as he could and was always looking out for us. He was very protective." 

Paris and her siblings live in Calabasas, California, with their grandmother Katherine following Jackson's sudden death in 2009. 

After years of home schooling, she is now at an ordinary high school. 

"I'm on a tight leash and I feel that if that leash was loosened a little bit I would definitely have a chance of a normal childhood ..., " she said. 

"I have friends who are completely normal ... they don't even think of me as MJ's kid." 

She talked of her love for music and how her father had taught her to dance - but reveals she has ambitions to be a heart surgeon. 

"I want to be an actress, but just throughout high school. Then I want to go to medical school and be a doctor specialising in heart surgery. I want to help people, that's it," she said. 

The 15-year-old also told of her hopes that the family home, Neverland, would be restored for deprived children to enjoy. 

Paris is shortly due to give evidence in the wrongful death lawsuit filed by her grandmother against the concert promoter AEG. 

She has also recently rekindled her relationship with her mother, Debbie Rowe, and spent her last birthday shopping with her in Hollywood. 

"When I'm with her we don't really have security with us which is really nice," she said. ( Sky News )