Michael Jackson's lonely and paranoid final years revealed by his bodyguards

For the last two-and-a half-years of his life two men were with Michael Jackson virtually 24 hours a day.

Bodyguards Bill Whitfield and Javon Beard saw everything, knew everything and were so loyal to the pop superstar they called “Mr Jackson” that they carried on working for four months without pay when his finances went into meltdown.

Now they have written a book about their time with the self-styled King of Pop and the life they describe is one of a sad, lonely figure who lived for his children.

The two minders say that despite his eccentricities, Michael was a good father to Prince, now 17, Paris, 16 and Blanket, 12.

“We worked for Mr Jackson. We didn’t work for the King of Pop,” says Bill.

“We got to see him as a man and a father.

"It was so good to see the side of him which was so in tune as a parent, from helping them with their homework and making sure they were eating right, to putting them to bed.”

They say they are convinced their boss was never a paedophile and also claim he had secret affairs with two women – including “making out” with one in the back of a limousine.

Michael left his self-made sanctuary at Neverland in California after his child sex abuse trial in 2005.

He was acquitted, but the ordeal and publicity left him a broken man After moving from city to city in virtual seclusion, he settled for time in Las Vegas in a huge house which he hated.

 “He was certainly eccentric ,” says Bill, a former policeman and security veteran.

“He would go into a store and buy everything. When we stayed in hotels he would buy thousands of books.

"At one point, he bought a whole bookstore.”

Michael travelled with one silver briefcase containing two Oscars won by classic film Gone With The Wind – he’d bought them for more than £1million –and another one containing ­thousands of dollars.

At home he hoarded hundreds of bottles of Tabasco sauce, danced alone until 4am, made his family book appointments to see him and constructed elaborate disguises whenever he went out.

In the searing heat of a Las Vegas summer he would dress as a biker in crash helmet and leathers, or wear bandages on his face.

And the children always wore masks when they were out.

“That’s all they knew,” says Javon. “They knew to cover up and call each other code names in public.”

The children didn’t know he was called Wacko Jacko by the outside world.

“He didn’t have any internet in the house. The kids couldn’t watch regular TV, so they never saw how he was portrayed,” says Javon.

The reality of life for the three Jackson children sounds sad and lonely. Their father threw lavish birthday parties with clowns, magicians, huge cakes and balloons.

But nobody came apart from their tutor, their nanny and the guards. They were home-schooled so didn’t have any friends.      

Toy shops and cinemas would close so they could shop or watch films undisturbed, all staff were strictly vetted and visiting workers had their mobile phones taken away.

Surveillance equipment covered every inch of the property, panic buttons were installed and armed guards patrolled the grounds.

But Michael was so paranoid he still went from door to door checking locks.

One day a panic alarm sounded.

Bill says: “I got to the kitchen door, drew my weapon and burst inside, like I was ready for some real s*** to be going down.

“The family was all just sitting at the breakfast table eating their cereal. They saw me and froze.”

It turned out Blanket had pressed the button wondering what it was.

Jackson’s main concern was that Whitfield had his gun drawn.

“He didn’t want his kids seeing our weapons,” says the bodyguard.

At the peak of his success Michael was worth £500million, but at one point his finances were in such crisis that his credit cards were declined and the two guards were not paid for four months.

“We stayed because of our loyalty to him,” says Javon.

“We knew he wasn’t in control and we didn’t want to bother him about it. In some walks of life he was naive.

"Other people took care of payroll and salaries. I don’t think he was ever totally broke.

"It’s Michael Jackson – he could never be broke.

“Some of the most ridiculous lawsuits were taken against him.

"People knew after the trial that he didn’t want to go to court any more – he would just settle. He was a target for lawsuits.”

Jackson was devastated by the sexual abuse allegations, says Javon.

“I’m a father myself and I wouldn’t have worked for him if I’d had any doubt. He wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

Both men claim the singer had secret flings in the years up to his death with two women codenamed Friend and Flower.

They say he took Friend, a beautiful brunette with an Eastern European accent, in a limousine to see the Washington Monument in the US capital and there were late-night trysts in her hotel.

On later visits, the bodyguards would drive them round in the car with the curtains closed.

“They were making out,” says Javon. “I didn’t want to interrupt.”

Days after Friend left, Flower arrived.

She was a blonde with freckles, again staying in a hotel on her own. But the guards say she seemed more pushy and Michael did not grow as close to her.

“I don’t think he could ever see himself settling down, because his life was so chaotic,” says Javon.

“His happiest time was when he was with his kids.”

Michael died in 2009 at his home in Los Angeles the age of 50 from an overdose of the anaesthetic propofol.

His doctor Conrad Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and got four years in prison (he served two).

The bodyguards were back in Vegas preparing for Michael’s This Is It tour when they heard the news.