Agony of George’s Wham! partner
Stars’ tears at final farewell to singer
GEORGE Michael was buried alongside his mother yesterday – 94 days after he died – in a funeral shrouded in secrecy.
The singer’s family and closest friends, including Wham! bandmate Andrew ridgeley, 54, were among the select few allowed in at Highgate Cemetery in North London for the afternoon service.
Spandau Ballet’s Martin Kemp, 55, and his wife former Wham! backing singer Shirlie Holliman, 54, also attended.
Michael’s boyfriend Fadi Fawaz, 43, – who found the singer dead on Christmas Day – was the last to arrive for the hour-long service, wearing a black suit, open-neck black shirt and aviator sunglasses.
Around 30 mourners arrived in a string of chauffeur-driven Mercedes and Jaguars with blacked out windows. They were vetted by security guards as they arrived.
Black tarpaulin sheets were pinned up at the gates and at the windows of the chapel. Workmen had been seen putting them up on Tuesday night to prevent fans from being able to see proceedings. Guards patrolled the cemetery grounds.
It is thought the hearse carrying the 53-yearold pop star’s coffin had arrived before 6am. A wake held afterwards at Michael’s £10million home in Highgate Village was attended by around 20 people, including the singer’s former partner Kenny Goss, 58.
Fawaz, who had denied rumours he would not attend the service, chose not to go to the wake.
Barriers had been erected at the mansion and a doorman was stationed outside.
Goss, who is thought to have been the last mourner to leave, was seen getting into a black 4x4 with a blonde woman.
Michael, whose string of hits included Young Guns, Bad Boys, Club Tropicana, Careless Whisper, Faith, died on Christmas Day at his riverside cottage in oxfordshire. His body was not released for burial until this month following a post mortem examination which determined that he died of natural causes.
Tests showed he was suffering from dilated cardiomyopathy, a condition in which the heart’s ability to pump blood is decreased.
He also had myocarditis – an inflammation of the heart muscle – and fatty liver disease. A statement after the service, which was arranged by Michael’s sister Melanie Panayiotou, said: ‘We can confirm that the funeral of the singer George Michael took place today. ‘Family and close friends gathered for the small, private ceremony to say goodbye to their beloved son, brother and friend. ‘George Michael’s family would like to thank his fans across the world for their many messages of love and support.’
After the funeral a source said: ‘ There were about 30 invited guests, all dressed in black. They went into the chapel for about an hour and then the pallbearers put the coffin into the hearse and it was driven it up to the grave.
‘It was very sad. The hearse was waiting outside early this morning. The coffin was already in the chapel so it must have gone in last night or this morning.’ The subter- fuge surrounding the funeral upset some fans who felt robbed of a chance to say farewell to the star as he was laid to rest at the cemetery where Left-wing revolutionary Karl Marx and author George eliot are also buried.
Some said it was ‘ a disgrace’. one, Gary Chenery, who said he had known Michael since the 1990s, said: ‘I feel cheated. Where is the respect? He had a lot of friends outside of his family, all I wanted to do say was goodbye.’