The funeral of Bernadette Chirac, widow of former French President Jacques Chirac, took place on Friday afternoon at the Sainte-Clotilde Basilica in Paris, a site of deep significance for the couple.
Bernadette and Jacques Chirac were married in the nearby Sainte-Clotilde Chapel, which also hosted the funeral of their eldest daughter, Laurence, in 2016.
Part of the basilica, which seats 650, was open to the public, according to their daughter Claude Chirac. The forecourt outside the church was equipped with speakers to allow attendees to follow the service from outside.
Numerous figures from the political world and cultural spheres attended the ceremony, although only one speech was delivered – by Bernadette Chirac’s grandson, Martin Rey-Chirac, aged 30.
Brigitte Macron, wife of the current president and Bernadette’s successor as head of the Foundation for Hospitals, which organises the Operation Yellow Coins, a national fundraising campaign, was present.
Other prominent attendees included former President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, alongside close family friends such as singer and actress Line Renaud.
Former Socialist President François Hollande, who shares a political connection to Corrèze with Bernadette Chirac, also attended, as did Senate President Gérard Larcher and former Prime Ministers Jean-Pierre Raffarin, Dominique de Villepin, and Edouard Philippe.
Bernadette Chirac passed away last Friday at the age of 93. Born Bernadette Chodron de Courcel, she remains the only French First Lady to have held elected office in her own right, serving as a councillor for Corrèze from 1979 to 2015.
