On Wednesday in Saint-Tropez, hundreds of people gathered to pay their final respects to Brigitte Bardot. However, the farewell ceremony for the legend, who passed away on December 28 at the age of 91, turned into a political statement. For example, the President of France was essentially humiliated. Yet there were surprises too: it appears Bardot’s only son, whom she had not favored in life and once called “undesirable,” ultimately forgave his mother and attended the funeral.
To start, French President Emmanuel Macron was not invited to the funeral. Bardot’s family rejected his offer to organize a national farewell, effectively humiliating the country’s leader. The reason: Bardot’s well-known enmity toward the president.
In 2023, the actress had called Macron a “malicious being” for his inaction in protecting animals, accusing him of taking “sadistic pleasure in the suffering of humans and animals.” She criticized him for cowardice and for turning France into a “dump.”
In contrast to the president, Marine Le Pen, leader of the National Rally, attended the ceremony. She emphasized that she came “as a friend,” to express admiration for a woman who, in her view, embodied the true spirit of France. It’s worth noting that Bardot’s widower, Bernard d’Ormale, had been an advisor to Marine’s father, Jean-Marie Le Pen.
According to Brigitte’s wishes, the ceremony was “without unnecessary frills.” The actress’s body was brought to the Notre-Dame de l’Assomption church in an eco-friendly wicker coffin adorned with orange and yellow flowers. A large 1977 photograph was placed next to the altar, showing a young Bardot posing with a baby seal on the ice in Canada, with the inscription: “Thank you, Brigitte.”
In the front row sat Bardot’s only son, 65-year-old Nicolas-Jacques Charrier, who had flown in from Norway. Their relationship had been tragic: in her memoirs, Bardot compared pregnancy to “a tumor feeding on my body” and called motherhood “a misfortune.” They spent most of their lives apart but had reconciled in recent years.
Before the funeral, the star’s widower Bernard d’Ormale revealed the true cause of Bardot’s death. He stated that Brigitte had undergone two surgeries due to cancer. In her younger years, the actress had successfully battled the disease twice, but the third time proved fatal.
