I heard about this earlier today and thought it was crazy.

Brunei Prince paying Michael Jackson £5m just to show up at his party

London, May 23 (ANI): Michael Jackson will soon be richer by 5 million pounds, and he doesn’t even have to sing or dance for it.

As it turns out, HRH Prince Azim of Brunei is such a big fan of the ‘Black or White’ singer, that he is actually paying Jackson a whopping 5 million pounds - just to attend his 25th birthday bash this weekend in the UK.

Jackson arrived in the UK on Tuesday, May 22, and was swept through security at Heathrow by a police escort.

A source close to the Prince revealed that the royal didn’t mind paying Jacko just to show up, for the singer was his ‘all-time idol’.

"Absolutely no expense is being spared for his party - Michael Jackson is his all-time idol and he said he'd pay whatever it took to get him over," the Mirror quoted the pal, as saying.

"Even though Michael won't be performing, the very fact that he'll be in this stately home mingling with all of the Prince's pals makes it worth every penny to Azim," the source said.

Prince Azim is the son of the Sultan of Brunei, and is fourth in line to the throne.

His 200 VIP guest list includes celebs like Jerry Hall, Pamela Anderson, Faye Dunaway, Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss. Not only will these guests get to enjoy a lavish bash, but will also come away with gift bags worth tens of thousands of pounds, stuffed with diamond jewelery, top-end Bose electrical goods, iPods and 400 pound tubs of Creme De La Mer face creams. (ANI)

Prince Azim is a very generous young man, last year he gave Mariah Carey a $5.7 million gift.

Mariah Has Found Her Prince - Prince Azim, the Sultan of Brunei's son, made the diva a $5.7 million present

Mariah Carey was, until now, the princess of soul music and, from this moment she will also be a princess for Prince Azim. Right before going on stage last Wednesday, the diva received an astonishing gift, a diamond necklace with a matching ring.

According to reports, the Prince is so taken by the 'Dreamlover' singer that he felt the need to express his feelings the best way men know how: with jewels. The set was made of a platinum necklace, with a flawless eight-carat diamond and a matching ring to go with it. Both the ring and the necklace were sent via a private jet and handed directly to the unsuspecting singer.

Page Six had the entire story from a member of the singer's posse: 'She was doubly stunned when she found out the rocks were a gift, not a loan. Prince Azim, son of the Sultan of Brunei, is so taken with the songbird, he sent an envoy to deliver [the gift]. "We were sent by private jet to deliver this gift", Azim's rep told the "London Mirror". Too bad Carey is taken – she's been seeing a man who works for her label for years'.

Later the same evening, happy about the fact that she performed in her hometown and because she was warmly received (probably the gift, too, contributed to her high spirits), Mariah threw a party where she spent the amazing sum of $58,000 only on champagne for her friends.

I'm invited.

Ssh!

Michael will never go broke..haha
he rules

Confession: I used to be a huge Michael Jackson fan. Grew up listening to Beat It, Thriller, Man In the Mirror.

Michael still has his 50% share of the Beatles catalogue. He might be sort of cash and liquidity, but he is still asset rich. Besides, he is still seen as a music genius, and with good reason, in Europe and Asia. If he does a concert in Japan, China, Hong Kong, etc. . . he will sell out in minutes.

How much would it cost for Michael to sing a song at the bash?

Wow...Some people really have no idea what to do with their money. This is crazy.

Outrageous it is... But what isn't in our world nowadays?

Does the Prince not realize these celebrities don't need to be paid to go to his party -- I'm sure Michael Jackson would have gone anyway. I mean, being invited to the party of a real Prince has a lot of social status about it -- no Hollywood celebrity can top that.

I have seen Prince Azim on TV and he seems like a really pleasant guy -- I don't understand why he thinks he has to pay people to be his friends.

There is one small dilemma though, what do you give this guy for a birthday present? ....he already has everything LOL

Getting paid to appear at his party? Man I would be happy enough to be able to snag one of them goodie bags .

Honestly if I had his dough I would happily have paid MJ 5 million pound to appear at my party. MJ isn't just any celeb, he is larger than life and will most likely steal the whole party.

What you guys might not know is that the prince has a very generous brother aka the Sultan. Beside giving his brother a 50 foot yatch and a diamond worth 280 million dollars he gives back to the people. In Brunei health care is free, there aren't any income taxes, pilgrim trips to mecka are paid by the state and if you want to study abroad the state happily pays for it.

On every single one of his brithdays he gives all the citizens a gift. Last year every single working person got a raise. I wonder what he will give his people on the 15 July this year, PS3 maybe?

I'm even thinking about moving over there and marrying some girl so that I could become a Brunei citizen.

damn sure i would pay michael if i had the cash..the man is a living legend

PS
I hope the prins gets to hit it for that kind of cash..haha