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The irony won’t have been lost on anyone: the funeral for Elizabeth Taylor started fashionably late, which is exactly how the legendary star wanted it.
Taylor’s family held a brief private service Thursday at the Southern California cemetery that’s famous for being the final resting place for many a Hollywood celebrity, including Taylor’s close friend Michael Jackson.
(More on NewsFeed: Celebrities speak out about Taylor’s legacy)
And you’ve got to hand it to the former Oscar winner, who passed away this week at the age of 79. In accordance with her last wishes, the funeral began 15 minutes after its announced start time. According to her publicist, Sally Morrison, Taylor left instructions and requested that someone announce those literally immortal words, “She even wanted to be late for her own funeral.”
At the Forest Lawn Cemetery, the barricades were up, but it’s been reported that around four dozen family members paid their respects during a service that lasted about an hour. Five limousines took Taylor’s family to and from the funeral, but there wasn’t a procession.
As for the service, it commenced with poetry readings by actor Colin Farrell and Taylor’s family, with a trumpet performance of “Amazing Grace” by her grandson.
The casket was draped in gardenias, violets (which would have surely matched the color of Taylor’s eyes), and lilies of the valley before its interment in the cemetery’s Great Mausoleum. Even in death, Elizabeth Taylor manages to outshine the living. (via AP)
(More on TIME.com: See pictures of Elizabeth Taylor)