Debbie Rowe – Michael Jackson's ex-wife and mother of his two eldest children – will be attending the singer's memorial service in Los Angeles Tuesday.
"Debbie will attend. We just got confirmation last night from the people who are handling the VIP seats that they do have Debbie's seats and she will be attending," Marc Schaffel, a former Jackson business associate, said on ABC's Good Morning America Monday. (More than 1.6 million fans registered online for a chance to attend the Staples Center ceremony; only 8,750 names were chosen).
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When asked if Rowe had been in contact with the Jackson family, Schaffel claimed she has attempted to get in touch with the late singer's family, but has been unsuccessful. (Usmagazine.com reported late last week that the Jacksons have not yet reached out to Rowe.)
"There has been outreach, unfortunately, like so many cases, there's so much going on that they just have not been able to make contact," Schaffel said. "There were several tries, just for the fact of phone numbers that had changed, you know, answering machines that were full. Contact had not been able to happen prior."
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As for reports that Rowe is planning on seeking custody of Jackson's eldest children, Prince Michael, 12, Paris, 11, Schaffel wouldn't comment.
"All I can say is the only one that could give an answer to that would be Debbie Rowe's lawyers, and they're the only ones that could make any kind of official statement on that or obviously make any statement regarding that," he said.
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On Thursday, Rowe's attorney Eric George told Us she "has not reached a final decision concerning the custody proceedings."
Rowe – who was spotted over the weekend at her Palmdale, Calif., horse farm – has not spoken publicly about the custody proceedings, but told NBCLA's Chuck Henry in a phone conversation (that was not broadcast) last week that she wants the kids. "I have no reason to doubt that what was reported from that conversation was accurately and ethically reported, but that said, it would be a distortion of the truth to allow that single snapshot of a single conversation, to stand as the truth on Debbie's position on this sensitive matter," her attorney told Us.
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A guardianship hearing scheduled for Monday has been postponed until July 13 at the request of attorneys for Rowe and Katherine Jackson.
Rowe wed Jackson in 1996 (he was a patient in the dermatologist's office, where she worked as a nurse). The children were born through artificial insemination. (The new issue of Us Weekly exclusively reports that the children's father is Arnold Klein, Jackson's L.A.-based dermatologist and Rowe's former boss.)
After Jackson and Rowe divorced in 1999, she agreed to give up her parental rights, insisting Jackson was a good father.
