Michael Jackson had his stomach pumped "many times" having taken a mixture of prescription drugs, his children's nanny has said.

Grace Rwaramba, 42, said the singer had no idea about money and - towards the end of his life - was increasingly influenced by the Nation of Islam sect.

She told the Sunday Times: "I had to pump his stomach many times. He always mixed so much of it."

She said: "There was one period that was so bad that I didn't let the children see him. He always ate too little and mixed too much."

Mrs Rwaramba said Jackson had told her he thought he had only signed up to perform 10 concerts at London's O2 Arena, rather than the 50 announced by promoters.

She said the Nation of Islam had told Jackson it cost £60,000 a month to rent his home, which she believes was up to four times too much. She added: "Michael had no idea about money."

Meanwhile, a statement released by the singer's family described his death as "one of the darkest moments of our lives".

Part of the statement, attributed by the People Magazine in the US to the singer's father Joseph Jackson, read: "In one of the darkest moments of our lives we find it hard to find the words appropriate to this sudden tragedy we all had to encounter.

The family is understood to have requested a second independent post-mortem examination on Jackson's body, a coroners officer said on Saturday night. The first official examination was completed on Friday and the body released to the family.

Brian Elias, of the county coroner's office, said: "My understanding is that they have requested a second autopsy. But we have no way of confirming that. The body is in a mortuary and if they want to proceed with a separate autopsy, it is up to them."

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