Family and friends of the late Brigitte Bardot have held a private service in the French Riviera resort Saint-Tropez where she lived for more than half a century after retiring from movie stardom at the height of her fame.
The animal rights activist and far-right supporter died on 28 December age 91 at her home in southern France.
Her husband, Bernard d’Ormale, said in an interview with Paris Match magazine on Tuesday that she had died from cancer after undergoing two operations. “She was conscious and concerned about the fate of animals until the very end,” he said.
Residents and admirers applauded the funeral convoy as her coffin, covered in mostly orange and yellow flowers, was carried through the narrow streets of Saint-Tropez and into the town's Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption church on Wednesday morning, at the start of the funeral service.
Inside the church, a black and white picture of Bardot hugging a baby seal was on display, with the words "Merci Brigitte" (Thank you Brigitte).
The ceremony was broadcast live on large screens set up at the port of Saint-Tropez and two plazas in the small town, allowing residents and admirers to follow the farewell.
Bardot: the screen goddess who gave it all up
World's 'most beautiful woman'
Known affectionately as B.B. by many in France, Bardot's roles made her not just a sex symbol, but a pop culture icon and a touchstone for changing social attitudes. She became the first celebrity to model for a bust of Marianne, the traditional symbol of the French Republic that adorns French town halls.
The service started to the sound of Maria Callas' Ave Maria in the presence of Bardot's husband, son and grandchildren, as well as guests invited by the family and the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the protection of animals.
“Sadness is overwhelming, and pain too," Max Guazzini, a friend and secretary general of the Foundation, said in a speech.
"For me, Brigitte Bardot is France," said singer Mireille Mathieu, 79, who was to sing at the funeral. "She was the most beautiful woman in the world," Mathieu told reporters before walking into the church, praising "that freedom [Bardot] had, that boldness to say what she thought".
After the church service, Bardot is to be buried in strict privacy in the so-called marine cemetery in Saint-Tropez, where her parents are also interred.
The cemetery is also the final resting place of several cultural figures, including filmmaker Roger Vadim, Bardot’s first husband, who directed her breakout film And God Created Woman – a role that made her a worldwide star.
Controversial public figure
Bardot settled decades ago in her seaside villa, La Madrague, and retired from filmmaking in 1973 at age 39, after making more than two dozen films.
She later emerged as an animal rights activist, founding and sustaining the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the protection of animals.
While she withdrew from the film industry, she remained a highly visible and often controversial public figure through her militant animal rights activism and links with far-right politics.
She was convicted multiple times for inciting racial hatred after making incendiary remarks on immigration, Islam and homosexuality.
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen was among those attending Wednesday's funeral. Aurore Berge, President Macron's minister for equality and a defender of animal rights, was there to represent the government.
Bardot: from defending sheep to flirting with the far right
Bardot had publicly endorsed the late Jean-Marie Le Pen – co-founder of the far-right, xenophobic National Front – and his daughter Marine, whom she once referred to as "the Joan of Arc of the 21st century".
A tribute open to locals and fans will take place later in the old town quarter called La Ponche, the historic centre of the former fishing village.
(with newswires)
