Inside Michael Jackson's World

This was not perhaps what we expected from the King of Pop, famed lover of white socks and fairgrounds and monkeys on leads. With its wooden panelling, deep leather armchairs and fine oriental carpets, it could be the overdone interior of an English country hotel. Instead, this is the surprisingly old-fashioned decor of Michael Jackson’s final home in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles, where he died in June 2009. These pictures have been released to accompany an auction of Jackson’s art and furnishings next month. There are occasional flashes of the arch showman’s flamboyance if you look for them. The swag-draped private cinema, with its plush red carpets, tiered rows of sumptuous velvet seating and ceiling painted as a bright blue sky with gathering clouds,  is the kind of indulgence you might expect from the man who created his own private fairground at Neverland. The carved German piano with its elaborate music stand shows a touch of his showmanship, as does the grand chandelier hanging over the  marble bath in a room bedecked with apricot swagged curtains. But the overall style of the home of the King of Pop, is astonishingly traditional, right down to the classical paintings hanging on the walls.