Whitney Houston open casket photo on tabloid cover Pall-bearers carry the casket of pop singer Whitney Houston to a hearse following her f...

Whitney Houston open casket photo on tabloid cover

Pall-bearers carry the casket of pop singer Whitney Houston to a hearse following her funeral service at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey February 18, 2012. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

LOS ANGELES, Feb 22 - In a classy move certain to enrage fans while boosting sales, the National Enquirer has published a photo of Whitney Houston's open casket this week.

The image of the late pop diva was purportedly taken during a private viewing at the Whigham Funeral Home in Newark, N.J.

The exercise in sensationalism is on par with the photos of Houston's last meal and the bathtub she died in that TMZ ran in the days immediately after her February 11 death at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills.

There's some precedent for the Enquirer's ghoulish glimpse at Whitney's wake. The tabloid ran similar open casket shots of Elvis Presley after the King of Rock died in 1977.

Just as it did with Presley, the headline loudly proclaims that it is "the last photo" taken of the singer.

The Enquirer also teases some other tawdry details about the Houston viewing. The singer was reportedly outfitted in her favorite purple dress, $500,000 worth of jewelry, and had gold slippers on her feet.

(Agencies)