Elizabeth Taylor’s funeral gets underway as family arrive to Forest Lawn for private service

By
Jody Thompson and Chris Johnson
Last updated at 10:21 PM on 24th March 2011

Mourners have started to arrive at Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks and Mortuaries for the private funeral of Hollywood icon Elizabeth Taylor.

A fleet of limousines carrying the 79-year-old actress’s close family pulled into the Los Angeles venue at around 2pm local time.

Forest Lawn, in Glendale, California, is the same place where Taylor’s late close friend, Michael Jackson, is buried.

Sombre: Close family of Elizabeth Taylor arrive at Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks and Mortuaries this afternoon in California for the Hollywood icon’s private funeral service

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

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

Her speedy burial is following the
rules of Judaism – which she converted to for her marriage to Eddie
Fisher and Richard Burton.

Today’s service is being attended by strictly family only including her four children and ten grandchildren.

It is believed there will be a public memorial service held at a later date to commemorate her life.

There
was speculation that she will be buried next to her parents – and close
to Marilyn Monroe – at Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park
Cemetery in the city.

A photo has emerged of the family crypt, with a spare space next to where her parents Francis and Sara are laid to rest.

It
was also suggested that Taylor, who died on Wednesday of heart failure
aged 79, would be buried in Wales in a grave belonging to the family of
her late husband Richard Burton – or even eventually with the body of
Burton himself.

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

Members of his family today said they
were hoping to honour the agreement the couple had to be buried together
at a cemetery in Pontrhydyfen, near Port Talbot, a pledge made when
they were married.

Burton,
whom she married twice, died 26 years ago but was buried near the home
in Switzerland that he shared with his last wife, Sally, for tax
reasons.

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

Document: Taylor’s death certificate has been released

However, Burton’s family told the
Daily Mail after he died that Elizabeth went to see them and insisted she was
to be buried at the Methodist cemetery in her late ex-husband’s home
village next to his parents Dick and Edith Jenkins.

Richard’s brother, Graham, said in 2006: ‘Elizabeth has made it quite clear to me that she wants to be laid to rest here.

‘She
says that although Richard’s body is buried in Switzerland, his heart
belongs to Wales and it is her wish to be buried here.’

There
were also rumours that Burton would eventually disinterred from
Switzerland and brought home to the Valleys – with friends close to Liz
confirming she had been in negotiations with Burton’s widow to bring his
body home.

And today,
Burton’s niece, Sian Owen, said about the family grave: ‘If she has
stipulated in her will that that’s what she wants then of course we will
be 100 per cent behind her.’

Taylor and Burton married in 1964 but
divorced after 10 years, only to re-marry a year later for just five
months. Taylor maintained they loved each other to the end – when he
died in 1984.

Away from home: Richard Burton’s grave in Celigny, Switzerland

Burton,
whom she married twice, was born in a little terrace house just below
the Pontrhydyfen cemetery. When he died of a cerebral haemorrhage in
1984, Liz was distraught even though she had divorced him almost ten
years earlier.

Together again? There had been speculation Taylor, pictured in 1983, would be buried with her ex-husband Richard Burton in Switzerland

In all,
Taylor was married eight times to seven husbands. She was surrounded by
her four children –  Michael Wilding, Christopher Wilding, Liza Todd,
and Maria Burton – when she passed away.

Meanwhile,  anti gay activists the Westboro Baptist Church are threatening to picket Liz’s funeral – wherever it is held.

The church plans to protest because of the star’s gay friendly views and her work as an AIDS activist.

Elsewhere, Liz’s step-daughter Carrie
Fisher has paid tribute to the star – despite the fact she broke up her
parents’ Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds’ marriage when she was just a
toddler.

In a statement sent to E! the Star Wars actress said Liz should ‘never be forgotten’.

She
continued: ‘This was a remarkable woman who led her life to the fullest
rather than complacently following one around. She will be missed but
never forgotten.

‘A
devoted mother many times over and even very briefly a stepmother to my
brother Todd and myself, loyal to the lifelong friends surrounding her –
even with all this she found time to become one of the earliest
champions for those living with HIV.

‘If
my father had to divorce my mother for anyone – I’m so grateful that it
was Elizabeth. A woman who rarely did things in half measure.’

Meanwhile, Carrie’s mother
Debbie has revealed she was able to have one last conversation with
former love rival Elizabeth hours before she died.

Debbie told Access Hollywood: ‘I said,
‘Getting old is really s**t,’ and she said, “It certainly is. It
certainly is, Debbie. This is really tough.”

‘I said, “Well, you just hang in there
now, Elizabeth,” and she said, “I’m really trying.” God bless her, she’s
on to a better place. I’m happy that she’s out of her pain because she
was in a lot of pain.’