Zürcher Nachrichten - Bardot to be buried in Saint-Tropez as cause of death revealed

The reclusive star of the 1950s and 60s is set to be buried at her family's Mediterranean seaside grave later in the day after dying aged 91 at her home on December 28.

Ahead of a church service, which is set to begin at 11:00 am (1000 GMT), her husband Bernard d'Ormale revealed the cause of death for the first time.

She had dealt "very well" with two operations for an unspecified cancer before the disease "took her", d'Ormale told Paris Match magazine in an interview about their life together.

After being hospitalised twice in late 2025, Bardot insisted she wanted to return home to her villa known as "la Madrague", despite being in physical discomfort.

"It was uncomfortable, even when she was bedridden," added the former far-right political adviser. "However, she remained conscious and concerned about the fate of animals until the very end."

Animals and their protection -- for which Bardot devoted most of her life -- are likely to be a key theme at Wednesday's commemorations, which comprise a service at Notre-Dame de l'Assomption church, a private burial and a public event.

The service will be shown on public screens in Saint-Tropez for well-wishers and fans who gathered in their hundreds despite brisk winter temperatures on Wednesday morning.

Many eyes will be on the guests at the service.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen has confirmed she will attend, underlining Bardot's hard-line anti-immigration views, while centrist President Emmanuel Macron will not.

Some celebrities are expected to be there, but her animal rights foundation has stressed it will be a "no frills" event.

"The ceremony will reflect who she was, with the people who knew and loved her. There will no doubt be some surprises, but it will be simple, just as Brigitte wanted," Bruno Jacquelin, spokesman for the Brigitte Bardot Foundation, told AFP.

- Divisive -

Bardot was a divisive figure who alienated many fans with her political views in later life, leading to mixed reactions to her death.

Most observers agreed that she was a cinema legend who came to embody the sexual revolution of the 1960s through her acting and daring, unconventional persona.

But having been convicted five times for hate speech, particularly about Muslims, left-wing figures have offered only muted tributes -- and sometimes none at all.

"To be moved by the fate of dolphins but remain indifferent to the deaths of migrants in the Mediterranean -- what level of cynicism is that?" commented Greens lawmaker Sandrine Rousseau about Bardot's views.

Macron's office offered to organise a national homage similar to one staged for fellow New Wave hero Jean-Paul Belmondo in 2021, but the president was snubbed by Bardot's family.

She is survived by her fourth husband, d'Ormale, a former adviser to Le Pen's late father Jean-Marie, an outspoken far-right leader.

No information has been given about whether Bardot's only child, Nicolas-Jacques Charrier, will attend the funeral.

- Family dynamics -

Charrier, 65, was brought up by his father, film director Jacques Charrier, and lives in Oslo.

Bardot wrote in her memoirs that she had wanted an abortion but was prevented from doing so by her then-husband.

She compared pregnancy to carrying a "tumour that fed on me" and called parenthood a "misery", living most of her life estranged from her son.

They drew closer in the final years of her life.

Bardot's sister Mijanou, 87, who had a brief film career, is not expected to make the trip from her home in Los Angeles.

"My Brigitte, the one I loved more than anything... now knows the greatest of mysteries. She also knows whether our beloved pets are waiting for us on the other side," she wrote on Facebook.

"My God, please let that be the case so she doesn't feel alone, but is with them."

In 2018, Brigitte Bardot had said she wished to be buried in the garden of her home along with her pets to avoid a "crowd of idiots" trampling on the tombs of her parents and grandparents who are in the same cemetery where she will be interred.

X.Blaser--NZN