Michael finally laid to rest

MORE than 200 of Michael Jackson’s family members and close friends, including Elizabeth Taylor, Macaulay Culkin and Lisa Marie Presley, gathered to bid a final farewell to the pop legend.

The service began about 90 minutes after the announced time on Thursday evening, leaving guests waiting in their seats for the 26 cars carrying the Jackson clan to arrive at the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn cemetery in Glendale, California.Jackson’s brothers – each wearing a single sequinned gloved – kicked things off carrying the bronze casket on to the outdoor stage adorned by dozens of white flowers.Daughter Paris (11), accompanied by her two younger brothers, placed a crown atop her father’s coffin ‘to signify the final resting place of the King of Pop’, according to a family spokesman.After the opening prayer, soul music superstar Gladys Knight sang the gospel hymn ‘His Eye Is on the Sparrow’.While it’s not publicly known what was said by friends and families who offered words at the service, including Joe Jackson and the Reverend Al Sharpton, a family statement issued following the ceremony said loved ones spoke ‘spontaneously to celebrate Michael’s life’.In addition to Taylor, Presley and Culkin, other guests included Culkin’s girlfriend Mila Kunis, actors Corey Feldman and Chris Tucker, Motown founder Berry Gordy, ‘Thriller’ producer Quincy Jones and lawyer Thomas Mesereau, who successfully defended Jackson in a child-molestation trial.The hour-long service ended with Jackson’s brothers carrying the casket inside the Great Mausoleum where he was placed in his crypt.- TV Guide (US)