In an intimate, private ceremony, French icon Brigitte Bardot was laid to rest in the cemetery of Saint-Tropez, the Provençal fishing village where she breathed her last. Among the guests were numerous representatives of the Rassemblement National (RN). President Emmanuel Macron was asked not to attend.
The religious ceremony was held at the Church of Notre-Dame de l’Assomption on the morning of Wednesday, January 7th. Brigitte Bardot passed away in Saint-Tropez at the end of December, aged 91, after a battle with cancer.
After being carried through the streets of the town for a final public tribute, Bardot’s coffin was welcomed into the church by her son, Nicolas Charrier, with whom she had a conflictual and strained relationship. The Mass, celebrated by the parish priest of Saint-Tropez, was broadcast on a large screen.
After the Mass, the funeral procession passed through the small village of Saint-Tropez to the marine cemetery, where the burial took place in the presence of a few carefully selected guests. After hesitating to be buried on her property in La Madrague, Brigitte Bardot finally decided to join the town cemetery, where other celebrities from the world of entertainment are already buried, such as singer Eddie Barclay and Bardot’s first husband, filmmaker Roger Vadim.
After the burial, the cemetery was opened to the public.
Among the personalities present were singer Mireille Mathieu, Paul Belmondo, son of the actor of the same name, and Paul Watson, a leading figure in whale conservation. On the political front, several figures from the national Right were present, including two former presidential candidates, Marine Le Pen and Nicolas Dupont-Aignan. Aurore Bergé, minister for gender equality and the fight against discrimination, was there to represent the government.
A wreath was sent on behalf of Emmanuel Macron and his wife. The president briefly considered attending the funeral, but Brigitte Bardot’s entourage—her husband and members of her foundation—made it clear that his presence was not welcome. Relations between the former actress and the president were abysmal. The Élysée Palace did not insist, unwilling to fuel the controversy, given Bardot’s uncompromising positions on politics, Islam, and immigration. The organisation of a national tribute was also discussed, supported by figures such as Éric Ciotti, president of the Union des Droites pour la République (Union of the Right for the Republic), allied with the RN, who believed that “France has a duty to honour its Marianne.” But Bardot’s husband made it known that she would not have been in favour of this. Bardot had made it known that she wanted a simple and discreet funeral, with a small group of people.
Marine Le Pen’s presence at the funeral was both political and private, as the Le Pen family were long-time friends of the actress. Her last husband, Bertrand d’Ormale, whom she married in 1993, was an advisor to Jean-Marie Le Pen at the time of their wedding. “There was no question of me not being there,” Marine Le Pen explained to the press, visibly moved. She remembers Bardot for “her freedom, her audacity, her frankness, her commitment, her convictions, and her sacrifice in the service of a cause.”
