Brown: 'I did not want to create a scene'

Whitney Houston's former husband Bobby Brown has said he left her funeral today because he "did not want to create a scene".

He said he and his children were seated at the service but were repeatedly asked to move.

Brown was seen to walk to Houston's flower-covered coffin at the front of New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey, and touch it before walking out.

Their tumultuous 15-year marriage came to an end in 2007 following allegations of domestic abuse and Houston's much-publicised battle with drug addiction.

Gospel choirs filled the church today, where Houston herself performed as a child, with song while Alicia Keys, who described her as an “angel” and a “beautiful human being”, also performed.

Stevie Wonder also paid a musical tribute to his friend.

Meanwhile actor Kevin Costner, who starred with Houston in 'The Bodyguard', described her during the service as the “greatest pop star in the world”.

Houston, 48, was found submerged in the bath in her hotel room on the fourth floor of the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles last Saturday.