Hundreds of French citizens have joined the farewell to Brigitte Bardot in Saint-Tropez on Wednesday, the picturesque fishing village that she herself put on the map as a tourist hotspot for the jet set, where she passed away on December 28 at the age of 91. The funeral took place at 11 a.m. at the Notre-Dame de l'Assomption church, in a private ceremony for family and friends; among them, far-right leader Marine Le Pen and whale defender Paul Watson, one of the first to arrive.
The mass, presided over by a large portrait of Brigitte Bardot, with a wide smile, gray hair, and a blue background, is reserved for family and guests of the Brigitte Bardot Foundation. "Brigitte Bardot will always be associated with Saint-Tropez, of which she was the most dazzling ambassador," reads a statement issued by the local municipality for the occasion. "Thanks to her presence, her personality, and her aura, she left a mark on the city's history."
Marine Le Pen arrives at Brigitte Bardot's funeral in Saint-Tropez.Thibaud MORITZAFP
The funeral, with a strong local character, comes after the controversy caused by the failed "national tribute" to the French cinema icon that President Emmanuel Macron offered to her family and her fourth husband, Bernard d'Ormale, a former advisor to Jean-Marie Le Pen, who declined the offer.
Bardot, who combined animal rights activism with her political proximity to the far-right, was very critical of the French president in recent years. Macron confirmed that he would not attend the funeral and instead sent the Minister for Equality and Animal Rights Defense, Aurore Berge.
She died of cancer and in the arms of her husband
In statements to Paris Match, D'Ormale revealed that Bardot died of cancer and that "she had undergone two surgeries," which led to her hospitalization in the last months. "She always wanted to say goodbye to the world at La Madrague (her estate in Saint-Tropez) and suffered a lot in the final phase. She even told me, 'I'm fed up, I want to go'."
La Madrague, where the actress settled after retiring from cinema at the age of 39 in 1973, was also the refuge for dozens of animals she lived with, mainly horses, dogs, and cats. Initially, the actress wanted to be buried there, but eventually changed her mind, and her remains will rest alongside those of her parents and grandparents in the marine cemetery of Saint-Tropez, where her first husband, Roger Vadim, the director of the film that launched her to fame, And God Created Woman, is also buried.
In the interview published on Tuesday night, d'Ormale explains that she wanted "a simple burial", reflecting the woman who retired from cinema in glory in 1973 to lead "a peasant life". He also confesses to holding her hand until the end, until the dawn of that December 28 when she died "surrounded by the animals she loved above all and by me, who loved her."
Bernard d'Ormale recounts that he joined in "hearing her say Pioupiou, that little nickname we gave each other in private, and then it was over." He describes how "a sense of fulfillment, a serenity appeared on her face." "And she became extraordinarily beautiful again, like in her youth," he emphasizes.
The celebration will be broadcast in front of the town hall for the residents, on screens set up for the occasion, but the television channels, present in large numbers, will have to manage without an official signal, reports Afp. The burial is scheduled after the funeral, preceded by a procession of her coffin through the city streets. Thousands of onlookers were positioning themselves from early morning to not miss a detail. Her admirers will pay a final tribute in the afternoon with a massive event at the location known as The Fishermen's Meadow, featuring videos of snippets of her life and films.
While she decisively contributed to the international fame of the "beautiful fishing village" in the 1950s, BB sometimes had tense relations with Saint-Tropez, criticizing the explosion of luxury and mass tourism that have turned it into "a city of millionaires," as she described it in her book Mon BBcédaire, published in September.