Why Michael Jackson Chose Elizabeth Taylor to Be Daughter’s Godmother

Michael Jackson did not want his daughter Paris Jackson to feel alone.

That’s why he chose Elizabeth Taylor to be her godmother, so she would have an older woman in her life who knew what it was like “growing up in the spotlight,” according to Paris.

“There’s definitely a part of him that knew that we would have a very similar experience,” the 26-year-old shared in the first episode of the BBC docuseries Elizabeth Taylor: Rebel Superstar. “I was homeschooled and because of that, I don’t know what it was like to be around other kids my age.”

She added, “And I think it was just the same for her.”

Indeed, Elizabeth—who passed away in March 2011, nearly two years after Michael’s June 2009 death—spent a majority of her childhood in the spotlight. The daughter of actress Sara Sothern and art dealer Francis Lenn Taylor, Elizabeth made her acting debut in 1939 at just 7 years old.