(Douchy) After a life in the spotlight, it was in private that Alain Delon’s family and friends paid him a final tribute on Saturday, during a religious ceremony celebrated at his property in Douchy, in central France, where around a hundred admirers flocked.
Shortly before the funeral service was set to begin at 4 p.m. (10 a.m. Eastern Time), his two sons Anthony and Alain-Fabien came to greet fans of the giant of French cinema in front of the gates of the estate. His death on August 18 at the age of 88 sparked a flood of tributes around the world.
PHOTO GUILLAUME SOUVANT, FRANCE-PRESS AGENCY
Anthony Delon (left) and Alain-Fabien Delon look at bouquets of flowers and messages displayed at the entrance to their father’s property before his private funeral on August 24 at La Brûlerie in Douchy.
“It was very impressive to see them,” Maxime Ducharme told AFP, gathered with dozens of others in front of the property where the actor lived as a recluse. “My parents passed on this passion for Delon to me, I had to be there.”
In accordance with the wishes of the deceased, who had defined the arrangements for his funeral several years ago, the ceremony was to be celebrated in a small group by Jean-Michel Di Falco, 82, a former bishop and long considered the chaplain of celebrities in France.
Around fifty people, hand-picked close friends of the Delon clan, are present, including Rosalie van Breemen, the actor’s ex-wife and mother of two of his children, and Paul Belmondo, son of the actor Jean-Paul Belmondo.
Delon’s former screen partner, Italian actress Claudia Cardinale, 86, has for her part decided not to attend the funeral “due to too much grief”, her agent told AFP.
Cell phones were to be taken away from all those present at the funeral, out of concern for privacy. At the request of the family, authorities also banned flights over the property throughout the weekend.
“Not afraid of death”
The funeral took place behind closed doors in the chapel located in the heart of the Douchy property purchased by Alain Delon in 1971, La Brûlerie.
PHOTO GUILLAUME SOUVANT, FRANCE-PRESS AGENCY
Alain Delon fans bow their heads as they pay tribute to the late French actor outside the front gate of his property in Douchy on August 24.
Adored far beyond France, Alain Delon will be buried as he wished at home around 5 p.m. near his dogs, an “exceptional” procedure which required authorization from the authorities.
“I understand that the family wants to be private, that was their wish,” said Marie-Christine Guibert, who came as a neighbor. “I still wanted to pay tribute to him on the day of the funeral, it’s symbolic.”
For French radio and television host Stéphane Bern, a specialist in crowned heads, this choice is “very Delon”. “A national tribute was not the will of the deceased who wanted to be buried like Frederick II of Prussia at Potsdam Castle with his dogs,” he explained Saturday on Europe 1. “It is full of majesty and panache. It is very royal. It is very Delon.”
“I have absolutely no fear of death,” declared the headliner of the Cheetah or of Borsalino to the weekly Paris MatchThe magazine republished a photo from 2011 of him standing near the tomb where he plans to rest, in the chapel he had built.
PHOTO VALERY HACHE, ARCHIVES AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Alain Delon
Journalists and curious people
All week long, anonymous people, who came by the hundreds and sometimes from very far away, signed the condolence books, laid flowers or simply gathered in front of the gates of the property.
Shopkeepers, neighbors and local elected officials have lived these last few days to the rhythm of tributes.
“I’m overwhelmed: the phone hasn’t stopped since Sunday and some admirers have come from very far away to buy a rose,” village florist Agnès Bourgoin told AFP.
Around a hundred police officers have been deployed to secure and monitor the area around the property, according to the authorities.