Five Things to Know About Prince, Paris and Blanket Jackson

Checking in on Michael Jackson's three children on the one-year anniversary of their famous father's death

In the year since their famous father's death, Michael Jackson's children have lifted their veils, literally.

We've seen glimpses of them at his all-star memorial service, the Grammys and on YouTube.

But who are they really?

They're Individuals: Eldest son Prince, 13, is, in the words of family, "very smart" and an aspiring filmmaker. Daughter Paris, 12, is "the strongest" of her siblings, and, as grandmother Katherine Jackson told London's MIrror, perhaps the child with the artistic temperment closest to that of her father. Baby brother Blanket is, well, the baby brother—uncle Jermaine Jackson reports the 8-year-old's a crafty water-gun-toting prankster. "As soon as you turn your back," he told London's Sun, "he shoots at you and you're left soaking wet."

They're Spreading Their Wings: While Katherine Jackson told the U.K. tab that the home-schooled Prince, Paris and Blanket "don't have any friends"—cousins apparently don't count—she added that was about to change as they were due to venture into real-world classrooms come September. (In a separate interview with the Associated Press, Katherine Jackson lawyer Adam Streisand noted only that Prince would be heading off to school.)

They're Into Video Games: Prince and Paris were spotted by Hollywood Life at last week's Electronic Entertainment Expo (aka, E3) in Los Angeles. The pair—and their squadron of bodyguards, natch—practically lived in the tent for game-maker THQ, a source told the site. The main objection of their affection: a sneak of the upcoming de Blob 2: The Underground. 

They're Into Movies: If you caught Blanket's light-saber moves on YouTube, you already know this. If you remember Michael Jackson was a big film buff himself, you already guessed this. If you want to know what the siblings are said to have caught in the past year, then here are two titles: Ice Age 3 and, yes, their father's concert movie, This Is It. 

They're Just Kids: A little more than a year ago, this would've been the most unlikely finding. How could Michael Jackson, who didn't have a childhood himself, who raised his brood sans their mothers, who hid them behind veils and hats, have produced three going-and-growing everyday children who watch movies, play video games and take karate lessons? The answer is he was more human than we gave him credit for being. And the solution is to not make the same mistake with his children. "The kids are happy," their godfather Mark Lester, the former child actor of Oliver! fame, recently told Today. "Things are settling down. That's good."