Michael Jackson buried tonight in hidden monument
GLENDALE, Calif.–Michael Jackson will finally be buried this evening in a private ceremony that will be a stark contrast to a life played out on a world stage, with headlines screaming his every move and frenzy following his footsteps.
His death, memorial and investigation amplified the delirium and prolonged the anguish of family and fans. Ten weeks after he died June 25, he is scheduled to be interred in what will be a hidden monument in a mausoleum made of marble and mortar.
There will be only silence. No marquees, no spotlights, no paparazzi.
His burial was delayed by police and coroner investigations, which concluded his death was a homicide. Investigators focused on sleep medications and other drugs administered to the pop singer at his Los Angeles mansion. No charges have been laid.
The funeral was eventually scheduled for Aug. 29, which would have been Jackson’s 51th birthday, but it was delayed until today at the request of some family members who did not want to mark his birthday that way.
Jeryll Cohen, an attorney for the administrators of Jackson’s estate, said his debt-ridden estate has enough cash to pay for the funeral and a judge authorized the payment after a hearing yesterday.
“The expenses are extraordinary, however, Michael Jackson was extraordinary,” Cohen said.
Few details about the service have been disclosed. Cohen told the judge that part of the reason it will be so expensive is because 12 burial spaces are being bought.
Jackson is scheduled to be interred in a mausoleum at Forest Lawn Glendale, which is about 13 kilometres north of downtown Los Angeles. He will be placed in the Great Mausoleum, where he’ll join Hollywood legends such as Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, W.C. Fields and Red Skelton.
Cemetery websites and blogs have been buzzing ever since Jackson’s family announced the Forest Lawn plan. Hits to Lisa Burk’s blog at
www.gravehunting.com have gone through the roof, she said. Interest in him “blows everything else out of the water because he was so internationally known.”
Jackson’s burial will not stop the tributes, however. Oprah Winfrey’s Sept. 16 show will be dedicated to Jackson and will feature “never-before-revealed personal details” from her 1993 interview with him.
Source: thestar.com
