Grace Rwaramba, the Rwandan nanny to Prince, Paris and Blanket, is the person many consider the most maternal personality in the children’s lives. She left the family, perhaps being dismissed, last year but is now making a comeback that may be key to the Jackson family maintaining custody of the children.
Grace worked for Michael for 17 years, first as a secretary and then as nanny following the birth of Prince. According to may “sources,” she is resuming the position she occupied throughout the children’s entire lives. Since Michael’s death, sources claim that she has resumed child - care duties at the Encino home and has been seen taking the children to Jehovah’s Witness classes.
Grace was introduced to Michael through his friend, Deepak Chopra. She was such a constant in Michael’s life that there were rumors that they were secretly married. Documents filed in Nevada, however, prove that she was married to her first husband during the majority of her employment and then married her second husband in December 2008.
Rumors often surrounded the Michael - Grace relationship, claiming that she held “Svengali-like” power. “I hear some odd things about her, this woman in the background with all of this power, flexing her muscles,” says former Jackson spiritual advisor Firpo Carr. “That’s not the Grace I know. Unless she has this other secret life I don’t know about,” says Carr. “She is one of the humblest people I have been around.”
Still others are sensitive to the pivotal position Grace occupied. “You have to be aware of the most powerful nanny in the universe,” says one former Jackson confidante. “She was the gatekeeper for Michael and she wielded that power. She absolutely did.”
Michael’s friend, filmaker Bryan Michael Stoller, who often visited Neverland, remarked on Grace’s influences on the children. “Grace was like the mother and Michael was the father. The only person I saw get close to the kids besides Michael was Grace.”
Mark Lester, star of the movie musical Oliver! and godfather to the three children, spoke to Grace soon after Michael’s death. He said that she was “shocked and grief stricken.” Still, he told TIME, “she’s a very strong person and she’s a tower of strength for the children. She is the closest thing to a mother that they have ever experienced.” While not sure if her return is permanent, he adds, “Right now it’s important they have some continuity.”
Carr said that talk about Grace came about as the result of her loyalty and silence about Michael. Where many former friends and employees would sell their version of life with MJ to the highest bidding tabloid, Grace maintained confidentiality.
Shortly following Michael’s death, Britains Sunday Times wrote a piece quoating Grace allegedly giving disturbing details regarding his drug use. The story told of her attempts to curb his addition as the reason for her dismissal. The paper quoted Grace as saying “I had to pump his stomach many times. He always mixed so much of it. There was one period that it was so bad that I didn’t let the children see him…He always ate too little and mixed too much.”
Rwaramba quickly put out a statement disavowing the piece: “I don’t even know how to pump a stomach” She said she had never spoken to the Sunday Times. “The statements attributed to me confirm the worst in human tendencies to sensationalize tragedy and smear reputations for profit.”
The following day, Joseph Jackson publicly called Grace “a good friend of the family and to the kids,’ going so far as to say that a more permanent place in their lives was under consideration. Grace also wrote in the official Michael Jackson souvenir book at the lavish public memorial, “Thank you for entrusting me with your precious children, my love for them will never waver.”
Deepak Chopra told TIME “She is totally dedicated to the children and will do whatever it takes to make the children happy,” “She will play a large part in those children’s lives,” says Carr. Also, Grace’s work may be key as details of Michael’s alleged drug use come out. Addiction-specialist Dr. Drew Pinksy tells TIME that frequently children of addicted parents suffer from a sense of abandonment, but the caring “emotionally available” support Michael set up could provide a “life-saving link that might help these children stay healthy. I’m praying for the status quo for these kids,” In the eyes of many, Grace is that support.
Source: MJFC / Time Magazine
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