Jackson memorial set as court battle over children looms

'King of Pop' Michael Jackson will receive a final goodbye from millions of his fans in a public memorial on Tuesday amid reports that his ex-wife is gearing up for a court battle over the custody of his two elder children.

Debbie Rowe, a former nurse, who is the mother of Prince Michael, 12 and Paris, 11, made her intentions clear when she appealed for and won a delay in the custody hearing, which has been now postponed to July 13 by the Superior Court.

"I want my children. They are my flesh and blood. I'm going after my children," Rowe, 50, said in an interview to NBC yesterday in her first official comment over the issue but her attorney Eric M George claimed that she was yet to make a final decision.

Jackson's 79-year-old mother Katherine Jackson has been given the temporary custody of his three children by the court while the pop star's 2002 will names Katherine and singer Diana Ross as the legal guardians of his children, cutting out Rowe from the picture.

Rowe, 50 who married Jackson in 1996 and divorced him three years later, gave up the rights to her two kids after her divorce in 1999, with Jackson getting the full custody.

She is said to have had little contact with them after her divorce and Jackson's 2002 will cuts her out from any parental rights.