Low-key curtain call for the King of Pop

Published on Friday 4 September 2009 19:45

MICHAEL Jackson's mother, Katherine, was overwhelmed with emotion as the singer was laid to rest, the final act in his extraordinary career in the spotlight.

Jackson's daughter Paris was also in tears at the low-key private ceremony in Los Angeles, as she attended with her two brothers and the rest of the family.

The ceremony began more than an hour late on Thursday as guests, including 77-year-old Dame Elizabeth Taylor, waited in temperatures of 32C for the Jackson family to arrive at the Forest Lawn cemetery, close to the burial sites of Hollywood actors Humphrey Bogart, Errol Flynn and Clark Gable.

Speakers at the event, closed to the public and TV cameras, included civil rights leader the Rev Al Sharpton, while soul diva Gladys Knight sang at the service.

Jackson died at his rented LA mansion on 25 June, aged 50.

The star's brothers carried the flower-strewn coffin into the marble mausoleum in Glendale.

About 200 guests were thought to have been invited, with fans and media kept at a distance by a heavy security presence. Among those in attendance were former child actor Macaulay Culkin and his girlfriend, actress Mila Kunis.

Jackson's former wife Lisa Marie Presley was there to pay her respects.

The programme for the service contained pictures of the Thriller singer alongside some of his quotes. It opened with words from Jackson's book Dancing the Dream: "If you enter the world knowing you are loved and leave the world knowing the same, then everything that happens in between can be dealt with."

Paris, ten, was in tears as she arrived at the mausoleum but regained her composure as she and her brothers, Prince Michael, 12, and seven-year-old Prince Michael II, also known as Blanket, listened to the service. The trio placed a crown – to signify his status as the King of Pop – on Jackson's coffin.

Overlooking the ceremony were a pair of large portrait photographs of the singer in his younger days, as well as floral displays of white lilies and roses.

Some family members each wore a single sequined glove in memory of the late pop star as they sat in the front rows for the service.

The private funeral was in marked contrast to the star-studded televised public memorial event staged at LA's Staples Centre. The Jackson family did allow a live video feed of guests arriving at Glendale, but it was cut abruptly as the hearse drew up.

Despite concerns that the police would have trouble containing reporters and fans, the ceremony took take place without incident. Before the ceremony, Sergeant Tom Lorenz, of the Glendale Police Department, said the security operation had "worked well so far". He said no uninvited guests had tried to enter the grounds.

Last week, the LA county coroner announced that the star's death had been ruled as homicide, caused by acute propofol intoxication.

That heightened the prospect of criminal charges against Jackson's physician, Dr Conrad Murray, who is known to have administered the sedative shortly before the singer collapsed.