Somebody has cashed in on Whitney Houston’s death and sold photos of her lying in her coffin to the National Enquirer. The chilling photo was taken with a cell phone last week at Whitney’s private wake held at the Whigham Funeral Home in Newark, New Jersey.

In the photo, Whitney is shown lying in a gold open casket in her favorite purple dress and gold slippers. The icon was reportedly wearing over $500,000 worth of jewelry.

The photo is published in today’s edition of the National Enquirer.

It is understood the photograph was taken inside the Whigham Funeral Home in Newark, New Jersey, where her family attended a private wake last Friday on the eve of her funeral.

The magazine claims the photo was taken at the private viewing – although does not reveal who took the picture.

Carolyn Whigham, the owner of the Whigham Funeral Home, told MailOnline when asked for a comment: ‘I have spoken with the family about this and they have asked me not to comment on the matter.’

Whitney – who died aged 48 on February 11 – was wearing jewels worth $500,000 and had gold slippers on her feet, according to the publication.

The image – which was published in today’s edition – has stirred a strong reaction on Twitter, with people expressing their shock.

‘#wrong #rip,’ wrote one Twitter user named as The Bitter Critter.

Another user of the social networking site, Eric S Pittman, simply exclaimed ‘Oh dear’ while tweeter Peter Anthony Holder wrote: ‘No privacy for Whitney, even in death. As usual, the National Enquirer is a piece of work.’

The singer’s funeral took place on Saturday and was attended by stars including Mariah Carey, Oprah Winfrey and her co-star from The Bodyguard, Kevin Costner.

The star’s on-off boyfriend Ray J was also in attendance.

Houston was laid to rest the following day in a burial service attended by close family and friends.

She was found dead in the bathtub of her fourth-floor hotel suite at the Beverly Hilton hotel on the eve of the Grammy Awards.

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