Final farewell to Brigitte Bardot as Saint-Tropez mourns its ‘dazzling ambassador’

Brigitte Bardot, the legendary French screen siren and animal rights activist, will be laid to rest on Wednesday in Saint-Tropez, the French Riviera resort she called home for over half a century.

The iconic figure, who died on 28 December at the age of 91, will be honoured with both a private service and a public homage.

A private service for invited guests, including family and representatives from the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the protection of animals, is scheduled for 11 am at the Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption Catholic Church.

Local authorities have arranged for the ceremony to be broadcast live on large screens at the port and two town plazas, allowing residents and admirers to participate in the farewell.

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Following the church service, Bardot will be interred “in the strictest privacy” at a cemetery overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, according to Saint-Tropez town hall. The picturesque town, which she adopted as her refuge from the glare of global celebrity, will also host a public homage for admirers.

“Brigitte Bardot will forever be associated with Saint-Tropez, of which she was the most dazzling ambassador,” the town hall stated last week. “Through her presence, personality and aura, she marked the history of our town.”

Once one of the world’s most photographed women and a defining symbol of 1960s sensuality, Bardot famously retired from filmmaking in 1973 at the age of 39, at the height of her international fame, after starring in more than two dozen films.

She subsequently dedicated her life to animal welfare, founding and sustaining a prominent foundation. However, her later years were also marked by a highly visible and often controversial public persona, stemming from her militant activism and well-documented links to far-right politics.

Her burial will take place in the so-called marine cemetery, where her parents are also interred.

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This scenic burial ground is also the final resting place of several cultural figures, including her first husband, filmmaker Roger Vadim, who directed her breakout role in And God Created Woman, the film that propelled her to worldwide stardom.

Bardot’s death arrived just one month after the star’s foundation said reports of her ill health were “false”. Bardot underwent a “minor” surgical procedure in October.