Far-right leader Le Pen to attend Brigitte Bardot’s funeral

Marine Le Pen, three-time candidate in the French presidential election, will attend the funeral of 1950s and 1960s film star Brigitte Bardot next week, a member of her team announced on Tuesday.

President Emmanuel Macron – who on Sunday hailed Bardot as a “legend” – would not attend her funeral, however, a source within his office said.

Bardot, who died on Sunday aged 91, was criticized in her later years for her anti-immigration views and for her support of the far right.

She has been convicted several times by a court of hate speech, particularly against Muslims.

The animal welfare advocate supported Le Pen when she ran for president in 2012 and 2017, describing her as a modern “Joan of Arc” who could save the country.

The presidency proposed to the Bardot family to pay him a national tribute, but they did not respond, added the source within the Macron cabinet.

Conservative politician Eric Ciotti has called for a national farewell to the blonde New Wave icon, similar to the one held in 2018 for French rock star Johnny Hallyday.

But many on the left are against this idea.

The leader of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure, opposed it, especially since he declared that Bardot “had been condemned several times for racism”.

Bardot’s animal foundation said her funeral at a church in her southern hometown of Saint-Tropez on January 7 would be followed by a private burial, but did not say where.

The former actress declared in 2018 that she wanted to be buried in her garden, to avoid a “crowd of idiots” trampling on the graves of her parents and grandparents.

Saint-Tropez Mayor Sylvie Siri told local media that Bardot’s final wishes had been respected, but provided no further details.

Bardot’s fourth husband, Bernard d’Ormale, was an adviser to the late far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, whose daughter Marine later took over his party.

Le Pen could be excluded from a fourth candidacy for the Elysée in 2027 due to a conviction for corruption.

But his party, the National Rally, sees its best chance of winning the presidency in the upcoming polls, with Macron resigning after two consecutive terms.

Le Pen’s appeal trial in the corruption case begins in January.

gbh-ah/cc