The presidential palace “had an exchange with the family, with the proposal that a tribute take place, without the family following through,” a close friend of the head of state told AFP.
Such an approach corresponds to a “republican practice”, underlined this source, recalling that the tributes are “systematically decided by mutual agreement with the relatives of the deceased”.
The idea of a national tribute has divided the political class since the announcement of the actress’ death on Sunday. With a very pronounced right-left divide: Eric Ciotti, president of the UDR, allied with the National Rally to which Brigitte Bardot was close, even launched a petition to this effect.
But the boss of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure, while saluting “an iconic actress”, considered that the national tributes were paid for “exceptional services to the Nation” and that the artist – several
once condemned for racist and homophobic remarks – had “turned her back on republican values”.
Emmanuel Macron will not attend the funeral, which will take place on January 7 in Saint-Tropez, in privacy.
The head of state was hardly appreciated by the actress anyway, who even sent him an inflammatory letter in 2023, accusing him of his lack of action against animal suffering. “I am angry at your inaction, your cowardice, your contempt for the French, who, it is true, repay you,” she wrote in particular.
Death of Brigitte Bardot: here is the place where she will be buried
