King of Pop - MICHAEL JACKSON FUNERAL

http://www.memory-michaeljackson.com/MICHAEL-JACKSON-FUNERAL.html
Michael Jackson funeral: All the details from inside the service as Jacko is laid to rest

Michael Jackson took centre stage for the last time today at a funeral service at which friends and family were given the opportunity to grieve in private.

The ceremony began more than an hour late 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 in Los Angeles.

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

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

In contrast to the star-studded public memorial event stages at LA's Staples Centre, today's funeral was a private affair.

The Jackson family did allow a live video feed of guests arriving, but it was cut abruptly as a hearse carrying Jackson's body arrived.


An airborne camera provided by LA broadcaster KTLA, however, continued to run. It showed a coffin covered in white flowers taken to the front of the congregation.

Around 200 guests were thought to have been invited to the event, with fans and media kept away by a heavy security presence.

Among those in attendance were former child actor Macaulay Culkin and his girlfriend, actress Mila Kunis.

Other guests who were due to attend, but were not picked up on camera arriving, included Motown giant Stevie Wonder and music producer Quincy Jones.

Jackson's former wife Lisa Marie Presley turned up to pay her respects. As the casket made its way to the front of the congregation, she was said to be visibly distressed.

It has also been reported that Debbie Rowe, Jackson's second wife and the mother of two of his three children, also received an invitation.

The ceremony was due to have commenced at 7pm local time (3am BST) but was delayed by the late arrival of the bulk of the Jackson family.

Those waiting at the cemetery fanned themselves with service programmes to counter the effects of a humid Californian evening.

The programmes contained pictures of the Thriller singer alongside some of his quotes.

It opened with words taken 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."

Others guests took to tweeting about the experience.

Mr Sharpton wrote on his Twitter page: "What MJ went through was so unfair yet he succeeded. In the end, he was the biggest artist ever.

"He faced the headwinds but he made it."

Jackson's mother Katherine and the singer's siblings, including sister Janet, and his three children - Prince Michael, 12, Paris Michael Katherine, 11, and seven-year-old Prince Michael II - arrived shortly after 8pm local time (4am BST).

They met Joe Jackson, Michael's father, at the site.

Some family members wore a sequinned glove in memory of the late pop star.

They sat in the front rows as the service got under way.

Despite concerns that the high-profile burial would cause a headache for police trying to contain both media and fans, the ceremony appears to have taken place without incident.

A statement issued after the ceremony read: "The Jackson family wishes to once again thank all of Michael's fans around the world for their generous outpouring of support during this terribly difficult time."

Speaking shortly before the ceremony was due to begin, Sgt Tom Lorenz of the Glendale Police Department said the security operation had "worked well so far", adding that no uninvited guests had tried to enter the grounds.

Forest Lawn's Glendale site is one of LA's favoured burial sites for the rich and famous.

The mausoleum in which Jackson will be laid to rest boasts replicas of the work of Renaissance greats, including Michelangelo's David and Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper recreated in stained glass.

Other stars buried at Glendale, which opened in 1906, include Hollywood actors Humphrey Bogart, Errol Flynn and Clark Gable.


The funeral is being paid for by the Jackson estate.

The King of Pop's funeral takes place more than two m

Earlier this week, Jeryll Cohen, a lawyer for the administrators of the estate, said: "The expenses are extraordinary. However, Michael Jackson was extraordinary."

onths after he died.

Last week, the LA County Coroner announced that the death had been ruled as homicide caused by acute propofol intoxication.

It heightens the prospect of criminal charges being made against Jackson's personal physician Dr Conrad Murray, who is known to have administered the powerful sedative shortly before the singer collapsed

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• King
• of
• Pop
• MICHAEL
• JACKSON
• FUNERAL
• michaeljackson
• michael
• jackson
• burial
• funeral
• ceremony
• service
• laid
• to
• rest
• 4th
• September
• 2009
• Forest
• lawn
• cemetery
• L.A.

[rockstar4421]

WHY DID HE HAVE TO DIE!!!!

[92healtheworld]

So sad :( So sad :( So sad :( So sad!!!

My heart goes to the entire family!!!

[crystalbratcher30ify]

@JacksonInHell have some respect the guy is dead and he didnt do that he was so innocent

[penthouse74]

@JacksonInHell bitch that's a lie

[ferjosparck33]

@rockstar4421 Quisiera haberlo conocido antes de que muriera :(

[lilkenny743]

MICHAEL DID NOT DIE IF U WATCH THE MEMORIAL U WILL C HIS FAMILY LAUGHIN Y WUD DEY B LAUGHIN SO HARD AT THERE BROTHER FUNERAL.AND WATS UP WIT DA GLASSES DEY ALL WORE GLASSES TO DISGUISE THERE EYES SO DAT DEY CAN KEEP AN EYE ON MICHAEL WITCH WAS DISGUISED AS A LADY AT THE MEMORIAL SERVICE U CAN C DEM ELBOWING EACHOTHER TO TELL DEM TO STOP LAUGHIN.WEN DEY WERE SINGIN WE R DA WORLD MICHAEL DAT WAS DISGUISED AS DA LADY DID A THUMBS UP WEN IT WAS OVA AND WHERE WERE DA TEARS..THUMBS UP IF IM RIGHT

[agltube]

@rockstar4421 Because he was a drug-addled paedophile. No?

[JacksonInHell]

Jackson The Pervert

[TheAcox45]

michael i can not let go y did you have to die no one can ever replace u your the peatles that make a pretty red shiny rose i love you mj i rember when my mom came in my room and said you will not belive this but sweetie mj is dead they tried to do every thing but nothing helped i bursted in to tears i would not have been the same if you were not here luv you forever xoxoxo

[TheJulianarodrigues]

Michael....i was thinking about it and i got a correction to make; this day is not one of he saddest day of my life....It is the SADDest day of my life....sept4th, the next day, i never felt so much sadness and emptness at the same time.

I still cry and probably always there is going to be a hole in my heart. A scar that never will be healed.

RIP - I love you more

[TheJulianarodrigues]

Michael....you have inspired the world...you are a huge part of my life i just can't let you go. After those months, today it's been 7 months since your funeral and still hurts.

You will live on, though...no matter what we are going to honor and love you.

RIP - thats'all for L.O.V.E. and i love you more

[b3g0dsgl0w51]

His kids are sooo beatiful! My heart and prayers go out to the ENTIRE Jackson family.