Michael Jackson's Funeral Cortege May Include a Mega-Motorcade Complete With Horse-Drawn Carriage

LOS ANGELES — A mega-motorcade, replete with bizarre touches like a glass coffin traveling via horse and carriage, may be part of Michael Jackson's funeral cortege from Los Angeles to his Neverland Ranch in Santa Barbara County, California, according to media reports.

The King of Pop's body will be taken to the Neverland Ranch on Thursday morning for a public viewing on Friday, according to CNN and the Web site TMZ.com.

The California Highway Patrol, which is expected to oversee the motorcade and deal with the ensuing crowd control, has yet to issue a statement on its Web site regarding Jackson's funeral. CNN said the motorcade is slated to leave the Los Angeles area around 10 a.m. for Santa Barbara County.

Such a motorcade is anticipated to cause massive traffic jams, especially since it will be occurring just ahead of the busy July 4 holiday weekend.

"Officials believe the event would be so popular that cars would stretch unbroken for 125 miles between Los Angeles and the Santa Ynez Valley, where Neverland is located," said the Los Angeles Times. "Plans were already being discussed to shut down Figueroa Mountain Road, the twisting rural lane outside the ranch."

Britain's The Sun tabloid reported, "Michael Jackson will be going out in a style befitting the King of Pop. Pictures have emerged of what's reported to be the horse and carriage that will transport Jacko's body to his funeral service. It's also been revealed Jackson's body could be put on display in a glass coffin."

If such plans are true, Jackson's funeral procession may call to mind the elaborate funeral processions usually reserved for royals and heads of state.

The 1997 funeral procession for Diana, Princess of Wales, featured her flag-draped and flower-bedecked coffin set on a gun carriage, which was drawn by six horses of the King's Troop in a two-hour journey from London's Kensington Palace to Westminster Abbey.

The state funeral for President John F. Kennedy was similar. On the Sunday after his assassination, his coffin was carried by horse-drawn caisson to the U.S. Capitol to lie in state. It was borne again by caisson on the final leg of the ceremony to Arlington National Cemetery for burial. A riderless horse named Black Jack accompanied the caisson.

Inside Line says: However the funeral procession plays out, it will be one watched by millions around the globe. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent