GLENDALE, CALIFORNIA: More than two months his death, Michael Jackson was entombed at a private ceremony before more than 200 family and friends.
The funeral began about an hour and a half late because of the tardy arrival of his parents, Joe and Katherine, and other family members at Forest Lawn Glendale. They included the singer's three children, Prince Michael, 12, Paris Michael, 10, and Prince Michael II, 7, known as Blanket.
The King of Pop was mourned by his family and celebrities including Elizabeth Taylor and Macaulay Culkin at a private funeral service held on Thursday night (US time) outside the elaborate mausoleum where the King of Pop was entombed.
Civil rights activist the Rev. Al Sharpton spoke at the ceremony, and Gladys Knight performed. Just before 10pm (0500 GMT), Sharpton posted on his Twitter page that ``Michael Jackson has been laid to rest.'
The invitation notice said the service would begin promptly at 7 pm (2300 GMT); it began closer to 8:30 (0030 GMT).
About 200 mourners were left waiting in the late summer heat, with the temperature stuck at 90 degrees (32 Celsius) just before sunset. Some mourners fanned themselves with programs for the service at Forest Lawn Glendale.
A vivid orange moon, a mark of the devastating wildfire about 10 miles (16 kilometers) distant, hung over the cemetery.
Police had escorted the family's motorcade of 31 cars, including Rolls-Royces and Cadillacs, from Encino to Forest Lawn, with the hearse bearing Jackson's body at the end.
A large, blimp-like inflated light, the type used in film and television production, and a boom camera hovered over the seating area placed in front of the elaborate marble mausoleum. The equipment raised the possibility that the footage would be used for the Jackson concert documentary "This Is It."
About 250 seats were arranged for mourners over artificial turf laid roadside at the mausoleum. Nearly double the number of media credentials, 435, were issued to reporters and film crews who remained at a distance from the service and behind barricades.
Maria Martinez, 25, a fan from Riverside, California, who was joined by a dozen other Jackson admirers at a gas station near the security perimeter, gave a handful of pink flowers to a man with an invitation driving into the funeral.
"Can you please put these flowers on his grave?" she told him. Martinez said she picked them from a nearby park. "They were small and ugly, but I did that with my heart. I'm not going to be able to get close, so this is as close as I could get to him."
The man consented, adding, "God bless." Glendale police said all was going smoothly early in the evening and there were no arrests.
Jackson will share eternity at Forest Lawn with the likes of Clark Gable, Jean Harlow and WC 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.
After the burial, 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.
Lisa Burk, who blogs about celebrity graves at www.gravehunting.com, said the Jackson family chose well for his final resting place if it was privacy they were after.
"It's impossible to get in there," Burk said. "It was before, and it will be worse now."
By late afternoon Thursday, media tents had cropped up all along the boulevard across from the wrought-iron gates that serve as the main entrance to Forest Lawn. That vantage point offered no view of any mausoleum - just a fountain and a building containing the gift shop.
The Jackson family had booked an Italian restaurant in Pasadena for a gathering Thursday night, said Alex Carr, assistant operations manager at Villa Sorriso, in the city's Old Town district. She wouldn't specify the menu or number of people, but said the entire restaurant, which can accommodate 200 guests, had been reserved for the event and that security would be present.
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.
In court on Wednesday, it was disclosed that 12 burial spaces were being purchased by Jackson's estate at Forest Lawn Glendale, about eight miles north of downtown Los Angeles, but no details were offered on how they would be used.
The King of Pop died a drug-induced death June 25 at age 50 as he was about to embark on a comeback attempt. The coroner's office has labeled the death a homicide, and Jackson's death certificate lists "injection by another" as the cause.
Dr. Conrad Murray, Jackson's personal physician, told detectives he gave the singer a series of sedatives and the powerful anesthetic propofol to help him sleep. But prosecutors are still investigating, and no charges have been filed
Pictures:
Michael Jackson's children attending the burial ceremony of their father. The ceremony was limited to family and close friends.
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Michael Jackson's casket rests during the funeral service held at Glendale Forest Lawn Memorial Park, California.
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The hearse bearing the remains of Michael Jackson arrives for burial.
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Janet Jackson, Randy Jackson, Jackie Jackson, Tito Jackson, Jermaine Jackson and Marlon Jackson attend Michael Jackson's funeral service held in Glendale.
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Music Producer Quincy Jones attends Michael Jackson's funeral service. He was Jackson's longtime friend and producer of the masterpiece, "Thriller.
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Actress Elizabeth Taylor attends Michael Jackson's funeral service held at Glendale Forest Lawn Memorial Park
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Katherine Jackson and Joe Jackson, Michael Jackson's parents, attend his funeral service in Glendale, California. They arrived over an hour late
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Actor Chris Tucker arrives for Michael Jackson's funeral at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale.
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Jermaine Jackson arrives at Michael Jackson's burial ceremony held at Glendale Forest Lawn Memorial Park, California.
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Father Joe Jackson and Michael Jackson's kids arrive for his funeral service in Glendale, California.
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La Toya Jackson, Michael Jackson's sister, arrives at the funeral service held for the king of pop.
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US actress Elizabeth Taylor (2L) at the burial ceremony of US pop icon Michael Jackson.
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US actor Macaulay Culkin (L) attends the burial ceremony of icon Michael Jackson.
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Actor Miko Brando arrives at Michael Jackson's funeral service held at Glendale Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.
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Janet Jackson (2L), arrives outside the Great Mausoleum where Michael Jackson will be interred, prior to her brother's funeral.
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Joe and Katherine Jackson outside the Great Mausoleum where Michael Jackson will be interred, prior to their son's funeral in Glendale, California.
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