Originally appeared on E! Online
Some thrilling news for the Jackson family.
Paris Jackson, the only daughter of the late Michael Jackson, is officially off the market. The 26-year-old shared the news of her engagement to her bandmate Justin Long in a sweet birthday message to her partner.
“Happy birthday my sweet blue,” she began her Dec. 6 Instagram post. “Doing life with you these last years has been an indescribable whirlwind and i couldn’t dream of anyone more perfect for me to do it all with.”
She continued, “Thank you for letting me be yours. I love you.”
The carousel of photos accompanying the loving caption featured an inside look at the couple's relationship, including adorable photobooth snaps, selfies of the couple, a look at their Halloween costumes — medieval, dragon-inspired looks — and even a photo of the pair snuggling on their tour bus.
Plus, Jackson included an image of the proposal itself. For the occasion, she wore jean shorts complete with tights and knee-high brown boots, plus a cream-colored sweater she paired with a matching fiddler cap.
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For his part, Long — who she began dating in 2022 — wore black pants, boots and a white button down as he knelt on one knee in front of her. The pair’s proposal was backdropped by a gorgeous hall bedecked in sparkling chandeliers and golden wall features.
Jackson was all smiles as she looked down at her soon-to-be fiancée.
Over the years, Paris Jackson — who tours with Incubus — and her other two siblings Prince Jackson, 27, and Bigi Jackson, 21, have remained largely out of the public eye following the death of their father.
But while they grew up under challenging circumstances, the siblings had each other, and that is something for which Paris has always been grateful. In fact, she’s talked about how she and Prince Jackson were practically “raised like twins.”
"We're so close in age," she explained of her older brother during a 2022 interview on the YouTube channel Tuna on Toast with Stryker. "We grew up with the same teacher through each grade. We were treated like twins, so I think we have a bit of telepathy there."
She has also been candid about mourning her father’s death over the years on her own terms. So when fans have criticized her for how she’s navigated Michael’s birthday, she had a ready reply — one that included a poignant on how the King of Pop felt about his own special day.
"So today is my dad's birthday and back when he was alive, he used to hate anybody acknowledging his birthday," Jackson began the Aug. 2023 Instagram video. "He actually didn't want us to even know when his birthday was because he didn't want us to throw a party or anything like that."
"That being said, social media is apparently how people express their love and affection these days," she continued, "and if you don't wish someone a happy birthday via social media, it apparently means that you don't love them and you don't care about them. There have been times where I don't post anything for my dad's birthday and people lose their f--king minds."
And while noting she feels as though people judge her love for her father based on how often she posts, she added in her caption, "Please don't use a man you have never met as an excuse to abuse, manipulate, and harass his daughter (who you also have never met)."
