Icon of the night, Régine passed away on May 1, 2022 at the age of 92. His funeral is being held this Monday, May 9 in Paris, as announced by his granddaughter Daphné Rotcajg, a ceremony started at 10 a.m. at the crematorium of the Père-Lachaise cemetery, Salle de la Coupole. Journalist Eric Bureau du Parisian commented on the star’s coffin entrance: “Régine could not make her last entrance without flamboyance. His coffin arrives at Père Lachaise in a black carriage drawn by two horses and covered with white peonies and anthurium. A few hundred friends and as many fans await him in silence.“
To pay tribute to the mythical owner of twenty-two nightclubs around the world, starting with the mythical Chez Régine near the Champs-Elysées, many personalities are present. The former President of the Republic Nicolas Sarkozy did not cross paths with the first lady French, seen two days ago during the investiture of Emmanuel Macron. This time it’s his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy great friend of Brigitte Macron, who went to this moving ceremony. The Minister of Culture Roselyne Bachelot is obviously one of the political figures present, in an outfit far from the flashy green of his suit from the inauguration ceremony of the president. The mayor of socialist Paris and unfortunate presidential candidate Anne Hidalgo was able to meet his best political enemy Rachida Dati, in charge of the 7th arrondissement of Paris. The latter was seen chatting with Anthony Delon.
Less known to the general public, the politician member of La République En Marche Jean-Marc Borello attended the event as he built a strong friendship with the singer and comedian. Together, they opened screening centers and took charge of the reintegration of HIV-positive people with the SOS association. At the time, the AIDS epidemic wreaked havoc and decimated dozens of lives in the still largely oppressed gay community. “Everything we did at SOS comes from SOS Drug International: the palliative care centers, it was because we had seen how we treated our companions and our friends. Integration, social housing… No one wanted them, so we did it“, explained Jean-Marc Borello in Release in 2018.
The indefatigable Régine had started a tour in 2015, at the age of 85, her first since 1969. “Retirement ? I’m absolutely in no rush! I have a nice future until the day when I will be eaten by my boa, like in my song, and life will stop!“, she assured AFP. Regine’s love of life and celebration as well as her humanism are honored this Monday with emotion, surrounded by all the people who have counted in her rich existence.