By TOM LEONARD

Sombre: Close family of Elizabeth Taylor arrived at Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks and Mortuaries in California yesterday for Elizabeth Taylor's private funeral service


The crowds finally parted for Elizabeth Taylor as the screen legend was buried yesterday in a small private ceremony on a quiet hill outside Los Angeles.

A superstar who had been mobbed for most of her life was sent on her way in a short service attended by no more than a few dozen family and close friends.

Close in life to Michael Jackson, Taylor is now even closer to the singer in death as she was buried in the same mausoleum building where he was laid to rest in 2009.


Small gathering: Only close family attended the event, with a public memorial service being planned for a later date


As a convoy of five black stretch limos swept the mourners through the main entrance of the Forest Lawns Memorial Park cemetery in Glendale, they were watched at a respectful distance by a phalanx of the world’s media - including circling helicopters - but only a handful of fans.


Firm friends: Dame Elizabeth Taylor will be laid to rest in the same cemetery as her close friend Michael Jackson, who died two years ago


The 79-year-old actress only died of heart failure on Wednesday but a combination of her Jewish faith – which she adopted in 1959 and which demands speedy burial – and her family’s evident desire to avoid a media circus for once in her life ensured her burial took most people by surprise.

It was not clear who exactly was inside the blacked out limos but it would have included Taylor’s four children from three of her seven husbands - Michael and Christopher Wilding, Liza Todd and Maria Burton – as well as most if not all of her 10 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.


Time to say goodbye: Taylor died on Wednesday of heart failure


Memorial service: Preparations were under way earlier in the day ahead of the ceremony


Media pack: Journalists and cameramen gather at the scene


Last resting place: Taylor's funeral is taking place at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California


Goddess of the silver screen: Taylor playing the title role in one of her most famous films, Cleopatra


Elizabeth Taylor's Funeral in GLENDALE - by ERIC PAQUETTE - TVA/LCN MONTREAL



source: dailymail