(Douchy) After a life in the spotlight, Alain Delon’s family and loved ones paid their last respects on Saturday, during a religious ceremony at his estate in Douchy, in central France, that drew hundreds of fans.
Shortly before the funeral began at 4 p.m. (10 a.m. ET), his two sons, Anthony and Alain-Fabian, outside the gates of the estate, fans of French cinema’s hallowed monster, whose death on August 18 at the age of 88 prompted a worldwide outpouring of tributes.
Photo by Guillaume Chauvant, Agence France-Presse
Anthony Delon (left) and Alain-Fabian Delon look at the bouquets and messages placed at the entrance to their father’s property before his private funeral at La Brulerie in Dauchy on August 24.
“It was very interesting to see them,” Maxime Ducharme told AFP, as dozens gathered in front of the actor’s secluded property. “My parents passed on to me this passion for Delon; I had to be there.”
In keeping with the deceased’s wishes, which defined the terms of his funeral for years, the ceremony was to be celebrated by a small group, the 82-year-old former bishop and long-time celebrity chaplain. France.
About fifty people were close friends of the Delon clan, including the actor’s ex-wife and mother of his two children, Rosalie Van Breemen, and Paul Belmondo, son of actor Jean-Paul Belmondo.
Delon’s former screen partner, 86-year-old Italian actress Claudia Cardinale, gave up attending the funeral “due to overwhelming grief”, her agent told AFP.
Cell phones were taken from everyone who attended the funeral for confidentiality reasons. At the family’s request, officials banned flying over the property for the rest of the weekend.
“Not afraid of death”
The funeral took place behind closed doors in a chapel located at the heart of the Ducey property that Alain Delon bought in La Brulerie in 1971.
Photo by Guillaume Chauvant, Agence France-Presse
Fans of Alain Delon bow as they pay tribute to the late French actor at the front door of his property in Ducey on August 24.
Admired beyond France, Alain Delon will be buried next to his dogs at 5pm as he wished, subject to approval from the authorities.
“I understand that the family wants to be private, that’s their choice,” says neighbor Marie-Christine Gibert. “Above all, I wanted to pay tribute to him on the day of the funeral, which is symbolic.”
For French radio and TV presenter Stéphane Bern, an expert on crowned heads, the choice was “very Delon”. “The will of the deceased, who wanted to be buried in Potsdam Castle with his dogs as Frederick II of Prussia, was not a national tribute,” he explained on Europe 1 on Saturday. It is very royal. It’s very Delon. »
“I am not at all afraid of death”, declared the leader in 2011 leopard or from Porcelino For the weekly magazine Paris competition. In 2011, the magazine republished a photo of him standing next to the vault where he wants to be laid to rest in the church he built.
Photo by Valerie Hache, Agence France-Presse Archives
Alain Delon
Journalists and interested people
Throughout the week, anonymous people, in their hundreds and sometimes from great distances, signed the condolence register, left flowers or simply gathered in front of the property gate.
Traders, neighbors and local elected officials spent the past few days paying their respects.
“I’m amazed: the phone hasn’t stopped ringing since Sunday, and some fans have come from far away to buy roses,” village florist Agnes Bourgoin told AFP.
According to officials, about a hundred gendarmes have been mobilized to secure and monitor the surroundings of the property.
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