Aaliyah Honored Like a 'Princess'

NEW YORK – Pop star Aaliyah, whose funeral was Friday, was remembered as an R&B princess.

A glass-paneled, horse-drawn hearse carried her body in a silver-plated casket for about four blocks from a funeral home on New York's Madison Avenue to a private service at St. Ignatius Loyola Roman Catholic Church.

The hearse was manned by a driver and a brakeman — both dressed in black and wearing top hats. The horses were white Percheron with black plumes on their heads.

Fans lined the streets to pay their respects to the two-time Grammy nominee, who died Saturday in a plane crash in the Bahamas.

"It is so beautiful. She's going out like a princess," said Nicole Campbell, 24, of Brooklyn, who had been camping out in front of the church since 6 p.m. Thursday.

"It was a whole group of us, just playing her music. We had a prayer for her. We had a mini-concert on a stereo, playing her music. We were just celebrating the life that she had."

The 22-year-old singer-actress had been shooting a music video on the Caribbean island. All nine people in the small plane were killed in the accident, which is under investigation.

After the private service, 22 trained doves — one representing each year of the singer's life — were  to be released outside the church.

The procession and service may all be filmed for possible release as a "tribute" video, according to the New York Post.

Aaliyah's casket will be taken to an undisclosed New Jersey location for burial.

On Thursday, fans signed their names in a guest book outside the funeral home.

"I'm totally devastated by this great loss," said Glory Mosby, 29, one of the first few to sign.

"May U Rest in Peace — You are still the greatest," one person wrote in the guest book. "Your light will shine on."

By late afternoon, an employee of the funeral home added pages to the book, which was filled with names and statements.

Ramon Polenberg, 24, a UPS employee, pulled his truck over in front of the building to sign the book. Polenberg said he met Aaliyah at a toy store where she stopped to buy candy. He remembered her selections —"red fish and M&Ms."

"She just seemed like one of those people that had a real glow to them," he said.

Several large flower arrangements were carried in through a side door, including a bouquet of pink roses bearing a card with "Aaliyah" printed inside a heart. A pink teddy bear was propped near the guest book. Children stood on tiptoes to read the pages and write their names.

"She was sending out a message to all the young kids, and the kids loved her," said Mary Harvey, 25, who brought her three young nieces from Brooklyn. "She will be missed."

One of Harvey's nieces, Coral Foxworth, 9, said: "She never made negative songs. She was all positive, and family came first."

The New York Post and The Associated Press contributed to this report.