Buzan’s writings on brain development via a technique he calls mind-mapping have earned him an international following and the post of “thinker in residence” at Wellington College, an independent school in Berkshire. He was teaching in Singapore in 2006 when he received a call from his friend, Sheikh Abdulla bin Hamad al-Khalifa, of the Bahraini royal family.
[...] Jackson raved to Buzan about one of his books. He wanted Buzan, he said, to explain his ideas to his children and to “teach them how to think”.
[...] Buzan was immediately struck by how attached the children were to their father.
“I would watch them coming and going from the international school every day. They left happy, and came back happy. On their return those three kids could not run any faster from the car to get to hug their daddy.”
The house itself had been converted into a shrine to Jackson’s cultural enthusiasms. “It felt like the Sistine Chapel, filled with renaissance art. There were giant prints of paintings by the likes of Raphael on every wall.” Bizarrely, the first thing Jackson did on Buzan’s arrival was to quiz him about Leonardo da Vinci. “He was fascinated by the idea of geniuses, from Alexander the Great to Charlie Chaplin and Muhammad Ali, but he didn’t consider himself as one of them. He was very humble. He saw himself as a student.”
Buzan was surprised to discover that Jackson was an indulgent father, “not one of those hot-housing parents, forever forcing the children to play chess, take dance classes or learn instruments”. In the evenings they cuddled up together on the sofa to watch DVDs. Alongside the old masters, Jackson had hung larger-than-life-sized photographs of his children, which greatly amused them. “Michael had a massive printing machine.”
The elder children are remarkably focused, according to Buzan. “They are fast learners like their father, who was probably the best pupil I’ve had.” Buzan witnessed no tantrums or raised voices. “The kids seemed to enjoy each other’s company. It’s unusual in groups of three, where tensions can often arise.”
They are very different personalities. Buzan describes Prince as “a very bright, witty but serious little boy. In a class he would be the child the teachers noticed. He was confident and very quick on repartee”. Paris, by contrast, “was a sedate princess. Very independent, contemplative and self-contained. She was quiet but kind, always offering things. She had great poise and presence and she was very good with the boys”.
Four-year-old Blanket was “just wild, a little dynamo, always on the move, tumbling, hanging off the furniture. He was like a mini-Michael. I saw Blanket do lots of dance routines”.
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