Michael Jackson’s ex-wife reportedly broke down in tears after watching the former couple’s daughter pay tribute to him during a public memorial service in Los Angeles this week.

A distraught Debbie Rowe was photographed following 11-year-old Paris Katherine’s heartwrenching speech to mourners at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles Tuesday. The former nurse watched the star-studded tribute with friends at her ranch in Palmdale, California after turning down an invitation to attend the memorial service.

“It was heartbreaking. However strange her relationship with Jacko, she is still Paris’s mom,” an onlooker told The Sun Wednesday.

“To watch your child so upset on TV in front of millions of people is more than any mum could stand.”