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By Carole Aye Maung, Matthew Drake & Sara Nuwar, 05/07/2009
THESE are the astonishing 'happy family' pictures that could swing the custody battle for tragic Michael Jackson's children.

They show Jacko and ex-wife Debbie Rowe affectionately playing Mummy and Daddy, hugging and cuddling their two kids Prince and baby Paris.

VIDEO: WATCH UNSEEN VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH MICHAEL JACKSON SQUIRMING OVER SEX ALLEGATIONS

And the photos could prove a powerful weapon in former nurse Rowe's fight to win her children back - challenging stories depicting her as the detached surrogate with no maternal bond or attachment.

Following last week's shock death of 50-year-old oddball pop king Jacko in Los Angeles, Rowe threw down the gauntlet to the Jackson clan in the battle for her kids - now aged 12 and 11, declaring: "They are my flesh and blood. I'm going after my children!"

According to reports she also announced she'd consider raising Jackson's third child, seven-year-old Blanket. His surrogate mother has never been named.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE MICHAEL JACKSON STORIES, PHOTOS AND VIDEOS

Rowe - who controversially once accepted an $8.5 million (£5.2 million) pay-off from Jacko and GAVE UP any claims to the children - is spending the weekend deliberating with lawyers on her next move.

Clutches

But today the News of the World can also reveal:

* THE PACT Jackson made with superstar Diana Ross to keep his kids out of Rowe's clutches.
* ROWE'S FEARS that Michael would flee the US with the youngsters before his child molestation trial.
* CONCLUSIVE PROOF that Rowe was their natural mother impregnated with donor bank sperm.
* DOCUMENTS that show she first tried to get custody SIX YEARS ago and wanted to maintain contact.

Click here to see Michael Jackson's intimate family photos

Sources close to Rowe, 50, say she is spending this weekend locked in talks with legal advisers.

Meanwhile the Jackson family moved swiftly this week to install Michael's mother Katherine, 79, as legal guardian to all three children.

But our portraits, which have never been seen before, of apparently proud and loving mum Debbie with her babies will rattle the Jackson clan, who have often claimed she never even visited the children.

The photos - taken in a suite at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills about two weeks after Paris was born in April, 1998 - capture the first moment Rowe held her daughter for the very first time.

Jackson had whisked the baby away from the hospital moments after Rowe gave birth. The photographer told us: "Debbie couldn't wait to cradle Paris in her arms and Michael was happy to let her.

Click here to see Michael Jackson's intimate family photos

"It wasn't like he was giving her instructions and a list of what she could and couldn't do. Debbie was a natural mum from the off. She was talking to the baby saying stuff like, 'Hello Paris. I'm your mom!'

"In fact, she didn't want to put the little thing down, holding her as she was walking around the room and sitting down with her on a sofa. She wasn't just holding her for the photographs.