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Michael Jackson to be buried at cemetery of the stars
Chris Laker03.09.09
Final preparations for the burial of Michael Jackson will take place today ahead of a private ceremony attended by the pop singer's close friends and family in California.
The star is due to be buried at the Holly Terrace in the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn cemetery, Los Angeles, at 7pm local time (3am tomorrow UK time).
The burial comes more than two months after Jackson died aged 50 at his rented LA apartment as a result of acute intoxication with the anaesthetic propofol.
Last week, the LA county coroner revealed that the death had been ruled as homicide, a move that could lead to criminal charges against his personal physician.
Dr Conrad Murray is known to have administered the powerful sedative hours before the pop star collapsed.
But as family members prepare to bury him, thoughts are likely to be less concerned with the legal process as to saying a final goodbye to the Thriller singer. Few details of the ceremony have been released.
It will serve as a private affair for Jackson's close friends and relatives, in contrast to the star-studded public memorial that took place following his death.
Jackson was originally due to be buried on August 29 - the date he was due to celebrate his 51st birthday.
But this was put back to allow the family more time to plan the ceremony.
Jackson will be buried at Forest Lawn's Glendale site, around eight miles north of central Los Angeles.
It boasts a mausoleum with replicas of the work of Renaissance greats, including Michelangelo's David and Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper recreated in stained glass.
Other stars believed to be buried at Glendale, which opened in 1906, include Hollywood actors Humphrey Bogart, Errol Flynn and Clark Gable.
The cost of the funeral - described as "extraordinary" - is being shouldered by the Michael Jackson estate, lawyers and a judge confirmed yesterday.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff authorised the estate to pay for the burial after lawyers for Jackson's mother Katherine asked the court to sign off the expenses.
Jeryll Cohen, an attorney for the administrators of the Jackson estate, said: "The expenses are extraordinary. However, Michael Jackson was extraordinary."
Mr Cohen added that part of the high cost of the funeral was because 12 burial spaces were being bought.
