One month after public memorial, Jackson’s family to lay him to rest in private funeral

Star-filled mausoleum awaits Michael Jackson

GLENDALE, Calif. — Michael Jackson will share eternity with the likes of Clark Gable, Jean Harlow and W.C. Fields, entombed alongside them in a grand marble mausoleum that will be all but off-limits to adoring fans who might otherwise turn the pop star’s grave into a shrine.

A private family ceremony was set for Thursday night inside the massive multistory building at star-studded Forest Lawn Glendale cemetery. The service comes one month after a lavish public memorial that displayed the King of Pop’s gleaming golden casket to millions on TV.

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.”

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.