Michael Jackson’s final flamboyance will be the vehicle in which he’s delivered to his final resting place: This 14 karat goldplated custom casket that will be the center of attention at Tuesday’s memorial service at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The $25,000 container from Batesville Casket Company (“because every family deserves a Batesville”) is made of solid bronze, plated with 14-karat gold, and polished to a mirror finish. It’s the same model in which James Brown was buried. No question about it, it’ll be the fanciest coffin in the graveyard.
Jackson saw the casket first hand when he paid tribute to the singer as he lay in state in New York City’s Apollo Theatre, where he started his career, in 2006
Brown’s body was transported to the theatre on a white carriage similar to that seen in the last few days at Jackson’s Neverland ranch.
On Thursday it emerged that Jackson’s funeral will be held on Tuesday at the Staples Centre, the home of LA Lakers in Los Angeles.
The stadium holds 20,000 people and, if the Jackson family takes up the offer, large television screens would be placed outside for thousands of other fans to watch.
Sources close to the family say they are fully committed to holding a public memorial for his fans and are being guided by “what Michael would have wanted”.
The Jackson family met the Los Angeles Police Department and the California Highway Patrol to discuss possible funeral arrangements in the city, a police spokesman said.
Another venue has had to be found after an initial plan to hold an event at Jackson’s Neverland ranch, 150 miles north-west of Los Angeles, was blocked by red tape.
It is illegal under Californian law to bury a body outside a designated cemetery. Police were also concerned about the practicalities of holding a public viewing at Neverland, which is only approachable by a small two-lane road.
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which hosted the 1984 Olympic Games and can hold 92,000 people, has also emerged as a possible venue for the memorial.
The current whereabouts of Jackson’s body is being kept a closely guarded secret.
It has been suggested that he will be buried in the Hollywood Hills at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, and that his body is already there. Film legends including Humphrey Bogart and Clark Gable are buried there.
However, a spokesman denied reports that Jackson’s body is there. The spokesman said: “We’ve never had him and we’re not going to.”
Source: Dvice.com and Telegraph.co.uk
