When Brigitte Bardot’s widower went to feed the late actress-turned-animal-rights-activist’s cats on Monday morning last week, as he has done every day since her death last year, he was overcome with a profound sadness.
asserted
he → go → sadness
The date had been hanging over him for weeks, intensifying his still raw grief, as he agonised over how to commemorate the ‘unique woman’ he had vowed to ‘love forever’.
asserted
he → hang → woman
Birthdays, anniversaries, Christmases and New Years were always cherished by the couple, celebrated in a low-key fashion at Bardot’s waterside home on the outskirts of Saint-Tropez.
asserted
Birthdays → cherish → Tropez
Surrounded by dozens of animals, the pair, who mostly shunned the limelight, quietly enjoyed each other’s company at La Madrague, a former fisherman’s cottage, and would often enjoy a slice or two of Bardot’s famous apple tart.
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who → surround → tart
It was here, at this home filled with so many memories, that Bardot took her last breath, as she had always wished, being ‘lulled away by the sound of the waves’, holding on to Mr d’Ormale, whom she called her ‘piou, piou’.
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she → fill → her
Bernard d’Ormale had been married to 1960s superstar Brigitte Bardot for 33 years
All of the actress’s assets were split equally between her son from a previous marriage, Nicolas-Jacques Charrier, and the Fondation Brigitte Bardot - her animal welfare charity
The last nine months have naturally been a painful and lonely time for Mr d’Ormale, now 85.
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months → split → d’Ormale
Yet his grief was compounded when he was told to pack his bags and leave La Madrague, now worth up to an estimated £22million, after being left out of his wife’s will.
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he → compound → will
All of the actress’s assets were split equally between her son from a previous marriage, Nicolas-Jacques Charrier, and the Fondation Brigitte Bardot – her beloved charity set up to protect animal welfare.
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All → split → welfare
It was an arrangement her husband claims he suggested, not wanting to be labelled a gold digger.
uncertain
he → claim → ?
Yet Mr d’Ormale, perhaps naively, never imagined that it would see him removed from his home of more than three decades.
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him → imagine → decades
Now living in a 29-square-metre council flat built for senior citizens, he is only allowed to visit his former home in the daytime to check on the animals.
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he → live → animals
In another blow, last month he was removed as president of his wife’s charity, a position he was handed in the wake of her death to ‘continue her fight’.
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he → remove → fight
The final, and most upsetting, straw for the widower, however, was the charity’s decision to auction off 300 personal items that belonged to Bardot – from photographs and paintings to her nightgowns and underwear.
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that → auction → nightgowns
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mail in Saint-Tropez a week after the sale raised almost one million euros (£808,000), Mr d’Ormale accused the charity of acting ‘like a pack of werewolves’, failing to protect her legacy.
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d’Ormale → speak → legacy
‘Brigitte has been scattered all over the place, like grains of sugar,’ he said.
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he → scatter → sugar
‘These items were bought by fans, people who loved Brigitte very much, but it’s not their fault.
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it → buy → Brigitte
It’s the foundation’s.
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It → ’ → ?
Bardot's relationship with Mr d'Ormale was the longest of any of her marriages, but he is now living in a council flat
He feels ousted after caring for her for many years and plans to take legal action
‘This is no way to preserve Brigitte’s memory by scattering her belongings all over the place, especially when the foundation does not need the money.
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foundation → live → money
Hands shaking, he shows me a photograph of his wife at five years old, clutching a teddy bear that was supposed to be returned to him as a memento.
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that → shake → memento
He is still waiting.
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He → wait → ?
Meanwhile, a photograph of Bardot at La Madrague cuddling her dogs and a caricature of her by artist Jean-Jacques Sempé are among other items that Mr d’Ormale claims were supposed to go into storage.
uncertain
d’Ormale → cuddle → storage
He claims he did not give the foundation his blessing for the sale, as they suggest.
uncertain
they → claim → sale
‘I am still a member of the board, but I am dealing with a bunch of thugs who have no respect for her wishes,’ he added.
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he → deal → wishes
‘They could at least respect the fact that we are grieving.
uncertain
we → respect → fact
They have to make money by selling her belongings.
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They → have → belongings
Do you realise they’re erasing her?
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they → realise → her
It’s unbelievable.’
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It → ’ → ?
The overwhelming sadness and frailty of Mr d’Ormale when he first entered his lawyer’s office for our interview was quickly replaced with anger.
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he → enter → anger
After spending the final years of Bardot’s life caring for her as she had terminal cancer, eventually losing the use of both legs, he feels ousted and is now planning to take legal action against the charity
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he → spend → charity
The star poured all her energy into fighting for animals
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star → pour → animals
‘Most of the people on the board have done nothing but cause me trouble,’ he adds.
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Most → do → trouble
‘So there are going to be lawsuits, and we’re going to fight.
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we → be → ?
We’re not going to let ourselves be pushed around by these people.’
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ourselves → go → people
In the wake of someone’s death, let alone that of a multi-millionaire, the months following are often fraught with discussions over inheritance.
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months → let → inheritance
But it is one that Bardot, who retired from the silver screen in 1973, would have been appalled by.
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who → retire → 1973
Having grown tired of being a global sex symbol, she had just turned 39 when she stepped back from fame to become an animal rights campaigner.
By this time she had been married three times, none of the matches lasting more than five years.
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none → grow → matches
Instead of spending time in Paris, she moved permanently to La Madrague, the property two miles from Saint-Tropez that she bought aged 24 after the success of her film, The Female.
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she → spend → film
Rarely seen outside the Bay of Canoubiers, the star poured all her energy into fighting for animals – a passion that remained over the next five decades.
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that → see → decades
She campaigned against hunting, slaughterhouse farming techniques and the production of horsemeat – setting up her foundation in 1986.
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She → campaign → 1986
I live like an unsociable person; it’s different,’ she told the Toronto Star in 1998 when quizzed on her absence from public life, adding: ‘People get on my nerves.’
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People → live → nerves
…and 52 more, not listed.
The Aporia
