- Fashionably late: But actress's hearse arrived 15 minute behind schedule - upon instructions she had left
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.
Sombre: Close family of Elizabeth Taylor arrived at Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks and Mortuaries in California yesterday for Elizabeth Taylor's private funeral service
Small gathering: Only close family attended 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
But proving to be a Hollywood great until the end, the Cleopatra even managed to be fashionably late for her own funeral - under instructions she left.
'She even wanted to be late for her own funeral,' a family rep said in a statement.
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.
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
There had been speculation that she would be buried next to her parents – and close to Marilyn Monroe – at a more centrally-located Los Angeles cemetery at Westwood Village.
It had also been mooted that she might be laid to rest in Wales in a grave belonging to the family of her late husband Richard Burton.
Burton’s family had said they were hoping to honour the agreement the twice-married couple had made to be be buried together at a cemetery in Pontrhydyfen, near Port Talbot.
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
Particularly given that Burton is actually buried in Switzerland - for tax reasons – it seemed a forlorn hope that as glamorous a star as Taylor would end her days under the grey skies of south Wales.
But, even so, the London-born actress had a sort of homecoming yesterday.
Set in 300 acres of gently wooded hills, Forest Lawn has a definite English feel – albeit a Hollywood version – with mock Tudor office buildings, a Scottish chapel called 'Wee kirk o’ the heather' and a medieval gothic-style Great Mausoleum that was hailed by Time magazine as the 'New World’s Westminster Abbey'.
The mausoleum, was yesterday’s funeral service was held under tight security, contains a 'court of honour' where the cemetery’s most prestigious residents are inducted as 'immortals' by Forest Lawn’s 'council of regents'.
The cemetery is already packed with first division Hollywood names including Humphrey Bogart, Errol Flynn, Clark Gable, Jimmy Stewart and Jean Harlow.
Away from home: Richard Burton's grave in Celigny, Switzerland
Together again? There had been speculation Taylor, pictured in 1983, would be buried with her ex-husband Richard Burton in Switzerland
Jackson, another superstar who lived almost his entire life in the public eye, was also buried there with little pomp and ceremony.
The speed of the funeral arrangements also meant, thankfully, that a threatened picket by the rabid anti-gay activists of a group calling itself the Westboro Baptist Church never materialised.
Woody McBreairty, one of the few fans who had been able to get to the cemetery in time, said it was 'entirely appropriate' she should find privacy at last.
'This is her ride into the sunset and I think her family wanted her to do it with great dignity,' he said.
Mr McBreairty, who lives near Taylor’s home in Los Angeles’s Bel Air neighbourhood, said he used to see her occasionally and she was always 'mobbed'. She had often wanted to go out with her family to local restaurants but was unable to do it, he said.
He added: 'I came because I knew this would be my last chance to pay a tribute to her. The term ‘movie legend’ is thrown around a lot but she gave genuine meaning to it. And she was probably the greatest beauty known to man.'
Other fans – and fellow stars - will get the chance to mourn the actress at a memorial service, whose date has yet to be announced.
Berta Judt had been waiting for the bus only to find herself one of the few members of the public to see the funeral cortege.
'They only announced this on the news two hours ago so nobody would have had time to get here, especially if they had to get off work,’ said the retired office worker.
'I’m definitely a fan. I remember being a 15-year-old girl and reading those old film magazines and seeing her gorgeous face on the cover. We all aspire to that.'
Goddess of the silver screen: Taylor playing the title role in one of her most famous films, Cleopatra