Michael Jackson, his gold coffin topped by a crown of jewels placed there by his children, was laid to rest Thursday night at a funeral more than two months after his death and, because of his family’s tardy arrival, nearly two hours late.
The King of Pop was mourned by celebrities including Elizabeth Taylor, Barry Bonds and Macaulay Culkin at a private service outside the elaborate Forest Lawn Glendale mausoleum where Jackson was to be entombed.
As the hour-and-a-half service ended, Jackson’s mother appeared extremely weary and had to be helped to her car, according to one guest at the service.
Gladys Knight sang “His Eye is on the Sparrow,” and Clifton Davis sang “Never Can Say Goodbye,” a tune he wrote for the
Jackson5.
Friends of the Jackson family were invited to speak and several did, telling of their admiration of the Jacksons, who raised themselves up from poverty.
Afterward, the mourners stood and followed the crowned, lushly flower-draped casket as his five brothers — each wearing a bright red tie and a single crystal-studded glove — carried it into the mausoleum. The guest said Katherine Jackson had a difficult time going into the mausoleum; she was overcome and turned back, and it wasn’t clear if she went in at all.
Jackson’s daughter Paris, 10, cried as the group entered the mausoleum, but she and brothers Prince Michael, 12, and Prince Michael II, 7, known as Blanket, were composed through most of the service. The children placed on Jackson’s casket the spangled crown, which rested atop a plume of white and purple flowers.
Inside, Knight performed “Our Father” (The Lord’s Prayer), which the guest said moved many to tears. There were two oversized portraits of a youthful, vibrant Jackson mounted next to the casket amid displays of white lilies and roses. At Jackson’s lavish public memorial, red roses covered his casket.
Police had escorted the family’s motorcade of 31 cars, including Rolls-Royces and Cadillacs, from Encino to Forest Lawn, about a 20-minute journey, with the hearse bearing Jackson’s body at the end.
The invitation notice indicated the service would begin promptly at 7 p.m.; it began closer to 8:30.
About 250 seats were arranged for mourners over artificial turf laid roadside at the mausoleum, and a vivid orange moon, a mark of the devastating wildfire about 10 miles distant, hung over the cemetery.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, who gave a rousing eulogy at Jackson’s public memorial two months ago, posted on his Twitter account — while the service was still under way — that he made a repeat performance Thursday night.
“I just spoke at the conclusion of tributes,” Sharpton wrote. “Gladys Knight sang her heart out. Now we prepare to lay him to rest.”
Jackson will share eternity at Forest Lawn with the likes of Clark Gable, Jean Harlow and W.C. Fields, entombed alongside them in the mausoleum that will be all but off-limits to adoring fans who might otherwise turn the pop star’s grave into a shrine.
The closest the public will be able to get to Jackson’s vault is a portion of the mausoleum that displays “The Last Supper Window,” a life-size stained-glass re-creation of Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece. Several 10-minute presentations about the window are held regularly 365 days a year, but most of the building is restricted.
The ceremony ends months of speculation that the singer’s body would be buried at Neverland Ranch, in part to make the property a Graceland-style attraction. An amended copy of Jackson’s death certificate was filed Thursday in Los Angeles County to reflect Forest Lawn as his final resting place.
Information from the Associated Press contributed to this report.
