From the beginning, Debbie Rowe was an unlikely player in the Michael Jackson story -- a walk-on who became, for a time, a co-star.

Raised in California by adoptive parents, Rowe met the Prince of Pop when he was being treated for the skin disease vitiligo and she was a nurse's assistant to Dr. Arnold Klein at his dermatology clinic. A relationship of some kind blossomed (she later called it "puppy love"), and the two were married on Nov. 14, 1966 in Sydney, Australia, when Rowe was six months pregnant. The “best man” was an 8-year-old boy, a friend of the groom.

According to a number of reports, however, Rowe and Jackson never actually lived together as man and wife. Nevertheless, Rowe gave birth to Michael Joseph Jackson Jr. (better known as “Prince”) on Feb. 13, 1997 and Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson on April 3, 1998.

Then, by all accounts, Rowe was shoved offstage when she and the King of Pop divorced in October of 1999, agreeing to an $8 million settlement, a house in Beverly Hills, surrender of custody of their two children and and future silence on her relationship with Jackson. That arrangement lasted six years.

In 2005, she sold the house and bought a ranch and horses in Palmdale, CA. She also filed suit for the return of parental rights.

This custody dispute was still tangled up in the courts when Jackson was found dead in his home on June 25. Within days, Rowe claimed that neither she nor Jackson were the biological parents of Paris-Michael and Michael Jr. According to her version, she was merely a surrogate, and the sperm donor was someone other than Jackson. Later, Rowe's lawyer denied this.

According to the London Daily Mail, which published an exclusive interview with Rowe the year before his Michael's death, Jackson's ex now lives with 11 dogs, a parrot, two parakeets and 30 horses. The newspaper also reported that she had gained considerable weight at 50.

"I am possessive and protective of my babies," Rowe told reporter Annette Witheridge. "Their happiness means more to me than anything else in the world. I love them more than I would have have thought possible."

Another published report, however, noted that Paris-Michael and Michael Jr. were unaware that Rowe was their mother. As always in the bizarre world of Michael Jackson reportage, it became increasingly difficult to sort of fact from self-serving PR.

Rowe also told Witheridge that the veils over the faces of the children were her idea because "I had kidnap threats when they were babies."

In the months following Jackson’s death, the media identified Rowe as a rival (along with Jackson’s mother and singer Diana Ross) for the now-unveiled Jackson progency.

She divorced Jackson, she said, “because I wanted my life back. I couldn’t cope with the constant pressure of fame. He’s the genius, the famous one. I turned out two good-looking kids, but I can’t sing. I can’t dance.”