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Million people expected to mourn Michael Jackson at Neverland

More than a million people are expected to make a pilgrimage to Neverland to see the “king of pop” for the final time.

 

A 30-strong motorcade will take the singer’s body 150 miles from Los Angeles to the ranch where he used to live on Thursday, ahead of a public viewing.

Plans are under discussion for the body to be placed in a glass casket so that people lining the route will be able to see him. One proposal is to carry the body on a white horse drawn carriage.

A wake will beheld on either Friday or Saturday and the Jackson family will say their goodbyes at a private ceremony on Sunday.

Jackson will then be buried in secret at an undisclosed location away from the world’s media. But one option being considered is for him to be interred at Neverland itself, which would become a permanent memorial for fans similar to Elvis Presley’s home at Graceland.

A number of vehicles, heavy construction equipment and workers were spotted going in and out of Neverland.

A tractor, a cement mixer and a digger were seen while gardeners and police were seen on the premises.

Dozens of cars have been requested for the motorcade which will include the Jackson family. The body will have to travel 150 miles, starting in the streets of Los Angeles, and then be carried into the hills and wine country and on to Neverland.

The memorial plan is believed to have caused some disagreement within the Jackson family, with some members wanting a more private occasion. But they are understood to have been guided by the idea that Jackson himself would have wanted his fans to have the chance to see him.

Jackson's family met with California Highway Patrol to discuss arrangements.

California Highway Patrol spokeswoman Fran Clader said the meeting was held during the afternoon and "details are still pending."

Officials from a local board of supervisors, the county executive and law enforcement met to discuss the possibility of restricting parking along parts of Figueroa Mountain Road, which runs past Neverland.

Reverend Al Sharpton, who has been advising the Jackson family on funeral arrangements, said any funeral would help to "frame the legacy” of the singer.

He said: "It is the determination of the family to be careful and deliberate on how they plan his celebration of life because we're talking about a historic figure that really changed pop culture around the world. This is not something you do carelessly and spontaneously."

Neverland’s front gate has already become a makeshift shrine with fans streaming past the entrance to leave handwritten notes, photographs, balloons, teddy bears and flowers.

Jackson was 29 and at the height of his popularity when he bought the 2,600-acre ranch, naming it after the mythical land of Peter Pan, where boys never grow up. There, he surrounded himself with animals, rides and children.

A court has given his mother, Katherine, temporary control over his estate including Neverland.

A public memorial there could dwarf the services held for Elvis Presley in 1977 and Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997, with fans flying in from across the world.

However, it is not clear if the family could legally turn Neverland into a business along the lines of Graceland.

William Boyer, a spokesman for Santa Barbara County which covers Neverland, said: "We're looking into that legally.”

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