Michael Jackson‘s family has confirmed the King of Pop will be laid to rest at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills two hours before his memorial at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
A private family ceremony will take place at about 8AM.
Jackson’s grave will be close to that of his grandmother, who was buried at the cemetery in 1990, and stars like Liberace, Bette Davis and Andy Gibb.
The King of Pop’s burial suit has been designed by his longtime costumers, Dennis Tompkins and Michael Bush, and Jackson will reportedly be laid to rest in a replica of James Brown’s bronze casket.
Meanwhile, a row continues to brew over the expense of Jackson’s funeral and memorial — and who will pay for it.
Reports suggest the burial and tribute could cost Los Angeles tax payers $2.5 million — a figure outspoken councilman Dennis Zine insists the Jackson family and memorial organizers AEG Live should cover.
He says, “We have a number of funerals and memorial services throughout the city of Los Angeles; never do we need to bring in over 2,000 police officers … Our sympathies extend to the Jackson family and all the fans … but it’s AEG Entertainment — they’re the promoters, they’re the ones who are gonna do this concert, they’re the ones who operate Staples (Center). They’re the ones who need to put up the dollars for a city that is over $530 million in debt … We don’t have the funds to cover this massive operation.”
Zine goes so far as to suggest the memorial poses a terrorist threat to Los Angeles.
He tells U.S. news network MSNBC, “There are people who know this is going to be a worldwide (television) broadcast and if someone wants to make a statement, look at the audience they may have … This has become a worldwide event.”
MORE NEWS: Liz Taylor Pulls Out of Jackson Memorial “Whoopla”
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