AFP - Hollywood icon Elizabeth Taylor and "Home Alone" star Macaulay Culkin were among mourners gathering for Michael Jackson's funeral at a suburban Los Angeles cemetery on Thursday.
  
Around 200 close friends and family were due to attend the private service at the picturesque Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale.
  
The service had been due to get underway at 7:00 pm (0200 GMT) but invitees were still being seated as the scheduled start time passed.
  
Jackson, who died aged 50 on June 25, will be laid to rest in an ornate mausoleum at the cemetery, where Hollywood icons such as Humphrey Bogart, James Stewart, Spencer Tracy and Walt Disney are buried.
  
Police had cordoned off the neighborhood surrounding Forest Lawn on Thursday after earlier urging fans to stay away from the event.
  
Police helicopters, sniffer dogs and plain-clothes officers were patrolling the 300-acre (120-hectare) park.