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Prince of pop eyes Queen’s palace
By John Harlow of the sunday times
Forget, if you can, the troubled musical career, the Berlin baby-dangling incident, even the poor, poor nose. Conjure a vision of pop star Michael Jackson as the owner of Buckingham Palace. This is not a joke, say his friends, not entirely.
Jacko is officially on the lookout for some new digs, and the sprawling 19th-century edifice is his benchmark for quality. Either Buckingham Palace, or maybe Windsor Castle: money is no object, says Jackson’s property agent, James Meiskin.
Jacko is a hot buyer, with good financial references, despite the relative failure of his last album, Invincible. But so far, there is no suitable seller. “There are probably fewer than 10 properties in the world that match Michael’s very strict criteria, which include space, security and architectural uniqueness, and many of them are not for sale right now,” says Meiskin, who has been a friend and business adviser to Jackson for many years.
“There are some extraordinary places out there, and we hope to find something, either in the United States or Europe, by the end of the year,” says Meiskin, who is president of the New York-based Plymouth Partners, an extremely posh estate agency.
“Neverland Ranch near Santa Barbara in California will remain Michael’s primary residence, but he also wants a very large home or castle that has to be among the best, if not the best, home in whatever country it is located,” he says.
“We are looking around the United States, but I suspect Michael will end up buying a castle or palace in Europe. France, Italy and the United Kingdom are all under consideration.
“In England, it has to be something to the standard of Buckingham Palace. Unique and special, with nothing like it around. Or maybe Windsor Castle,” he said, generously ignoring the castle’s unfortunate history of fires and floods.
There are a handful of other candidates, possibly including Blenheim Palace, Castle Howard and maybe Longleat (Michael likes animals, after all). But if those stuffy owners insist on holding onto their heritage in the face of oodles of dollars, then the 44-year-old singer, his three children, Prince Michael, daughter Paris Michael and baby Prince Michael II, will be off house-hunting on the Continent.
In the spring of 1996, Jackson set off a feeding frenzy among the owners of France’s 40,000 chateaux. He visited four, dancing through the endless ballrooms and bedroom suites with a Mickey Mouse umbrella. He was fascinated by Joan of Arc’s bedroom at the Chateau Bouesse, but found the prospect of turning it from a famous restaurant into a home daunting and the lack of a private helipad a drawback.
He fell in love with an 18th-century palace until a nervous security adviser pointed out its hilly exposure to snipers and stalkers.
Later that year it was reported that Jacko spent a comparatively modest £6.2m-£7.4m on a 82-room spread near Paris. He was attracted to the Chateau de Chabennet by its seven turrets, moat and drawbridge, and its proximity to Disneyland Paris.
But a fresh mystery now surrounds the Chateau de Chabennet. Meiskin says he cannot talk about it, prompting speculation that the 40-acre estate was either merely rented, like Jackson’s apartment in the Trump Tower in New York, or the chateau has failed to please in some darkly French way and is for sale again. With Jacko, who knows? Either way, France remains in Jacko’s dreams. “It is a very short list, but the palace in Paris owned by the Sultan of Brunei would suit Michael. It is not for sale, but Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft, is interested in it, and, if it came onto the market, Michael would be too.”
The sultan, Hassanal Bolkiah, is still sorting out the £10 billion debts run up when his brother Jefri was the oil-rich island’s finance minister, so a fire sale is not out of the question. The sultan is down to his last £7 billion. It would, however, be a strange twist of fate, as the sultan once hired Jackson, then a mere pop star, to perform for his family in Brunei. Now Jackson might end up with his most treasured foreign home.
The 60,000sq ft chateau in the Place Vendôme, refurbished by the fashionable interior designer Jacques Garcia in 1997, rivals Buckingham Palace’s imposing bulk but offers less than a third of the 300-plus rooms at Buck House. On the other hand, the French palace does have high-pressure showers, an important factor for hygiene-conscious Americans with young families.
If Paris fails Jacko, there is always Italy. Now the upper-middle class English are selling up in Tuscany, there will be a few bargains going: he could even follow fellow oddball Woody Allen to Venice. Allen has not actually bought his palazzo on the Grand Canal yet, but they might make fine neighbours.
There appears to be nothing worth buying in America: “Just before Christmas Michael visited a few places in Florida, including the 17,000sq ft Marden estate in Palm Beach, which was a beautiful home but not really big enough for his needs,” says Meiskin.
The Georgian-style waterfront house is on sale for £33m, but money is not an issue. “When I say Michael wants something very special, for himself and his family, you are starting to get the picture, right? I am only half-jesting about Buckingham Palace, you know.
If it comes up for sale . . . ”
By John Harlow of the sunday times
Forget, if you can, the troubled musical career, the Berlin baby-dangling incident, even the poor, poor nose. Conjure a vision of pop star Michael Jackson as the owner of Buckingham Palace. This is not a joke, say his friends, not entirely.
Jacko is officially on the lookout for some new digs, and the sprawling 19th-century edifice is his benchmark for quality. Either Buckingham Palace, or maybe Windsor Castle: money is no object, says Jackson’s property agent, James Meiskin.
Jacko is a hot buyer, with good financial references, despite the relative failure of his last album, Invincible. But so far, there is no suitable seller. “There are probably fewer than 10 properties in the world that match Michael’s very strict criteria, which include space, security and architectural uniqueness, and many of them are not for sale right now,” says Meiskin, who has been a friend and business adviser to Jackson for many years.
“There are some extraordinary places out there, and we hope to find something, either in the United States or Europe, by the end of the year,” says Meiskin, who is president of the New York-based Plymouth Partners, an extremely posh estate agency.
“Neverland Ranch near Santa Barbara in California will remain Michael’s primary residence, but he also wants a very large home or castle that has to be among the best, if not the best, home in whatever country it is located,” he says.
“We are looking around the United States, but I suspect Michael will end up buying a castle or palace in Europe. France, Italy and the United Kingdom are all under consideration.
“In England, it has to be something to the standard of Buckingham Palace. Unique and special, with nothing like it around. Or maybe Windsor Castle,” he said, generously ignoring the castle’s unfortunate history of fires and floods.
There are a handful of other candidates, possibly including Blenheim Palace, Castle Howard and maybe Longleat (Michael likes animals, after all). But if those stuffy owners insist on holding onto their heritage in the face of oodles of dollars, then the 44-year-old singer, his three children, Prince Michael, daughter Paris Michael and baby Prince Michael II, will be off house-hunting on the Continent.
In the spring of 1996, Jackson set off a feeding frenzy among the owners of France’s 40,000 chateaux. He visited four, dancing through the endless ballrooms and bedroom suites with a Mickey Mouse umbrella. He was fascinated by Joan of Arc’s bedroom at the Chateau Bouesse, but found the prospect of turning it from a famous restaurant into a home daunting and the lack of a private helipad a drawback.
He fell in love with an 18th-century palace until a nervous security adviser pointed out its hilly exposure to snipers and stalkers.
Later that year it was reported that Jacko spent a comparatively modest £6.2m-£7.4m on a 82-room spread near Paris. He was attracted to the Chateau de Chabennet by its seven turrets, moat and drawbridge, and its proximity to Disneyland Paris.
But a fresh mystery now surrounds the Chateau de Chabennet. Meiskin says he cannot talk about it, prompting speculation that the 40-acre estate was either merely rented, like Jackson’s apartment in the Trump Tower in New York, or the chateau has failed to please in some darkly French way and is for sale again. With Jacko, who knows? Either way, France remains in Jacko’s dreams. “It is a very short list, but the palace in Paris owned by the Sultan of Brunei would suit Michael. It is not for sale, but Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft, is interested in it, and, if it came onto the market, Michael would be too.”
The sultan, Hassanal Bolkiah, is still sorting out the £10 billion debts run up when his brother Jefri was the oil-rich island’s finance minister, so a fire sale is not out of the question. The sultan is down to his last £7 billion. It would, however, be a strange twist of fate, as the sultan once hired Jackson, then a mere pop star, to perform for his family in Brunei. Now Jackson might end up with his most treasured foreign home.
The 60,000sq ft chateau in the Place Vendôme, refurbished by the fashionable interior designer Jacques Garcia in 1997, rivals Buckingham Palace’s imposing bulk but offers less than a third of the 300-plus rooms at Buck House. On the other hand, the French palace does have high-pressure showers, an important factor for hygiene-conscious Americans with young families.
If Paris fails Jacko, there is always Italy. Now the upper-middle class English are selling up in Tuscany, there will be a few bargains going: he could even follow fellow oddball Woody Allen to Venice. Allen has not actually bought his palazzo on the Grand Canal yet, but they might make fine neighbours.
There appears to be nothing worth buying in America: “Just before Christmas Michael visited a few places in Florida, including the 17,000sq ft Marden estate in Palm Beach, which was a beautiful home but not really big enough for his needs,” says Meiskin.
The Georgian-style waterfront house is on sale for £33m, but money is not an issue. “When I say Michael wants something very special, for himself and his family, you are starting to get the picture, right? I am only half-jesting about Buckingham Palace, you know.
If it comes up for sale . . . ”
Gracias JR www.mjhispano.com
