The National Enquirer editors obtained grainy images of Whitney Houston taken at the Whigham Funeral Home where a private wake for close friends and family was held last Friday.
The pictures, published by the tabloid, show Houston wearing a purple dress with color-coordinated eye shadow and lip gloss, and jewelry worth a reported $500,000.
A source tells the Enquirer, “Whitney looked lovely… like a queen.”
The polished bronze casket also had Whitney’s nickname, “Nippy,” embroidered in the silk lining between two treble clef symbols.
Houston was found dead in the bathtub of her Los Angeles hotel suite on Feb. 11. She was laid to rest beside her father’s grave at Fairview Cemetery in Westfield on Sunday.
Fans expressed shock and outrage Wednesday after the National Enquirer printed the image.
Facebook and Twitter users lashed out at the tabloid, calling the move trashy and shameful.
“MADD at who ever sold Whitney Houston’s pic of her in a casket,” reality star Evelyn Lozada, from VH1’s “Basketball Wives,” wrote on Twitter.
“Whoever sold the photo of Whitney Houston in her coffin to the National Enquirer is a vile, twisted, evil and unscrupulous sub-human,” London-based fan Christiana Mbakwe tweeted.
Even celebrity blogger Perez Hilton called it a “tasteless, insensitive, morbid thing to do” on his gossip website.
