Brigitte Bardot’s cause of death has been revealed following her passing at age 91.
According to her husband, Bernard d’Ormale, the French screen icon had been battling cancer before she died peacefully on December 28 at her longtime home, La Madrague, in Saint-Tropez. He shared the details — including the morning of her death — in an interview with Paris Match published ahead of her funeral on Wednesday, January 7.
Bardot had undergone two cancer surgeries in recent months and was also suffering from severe back pain, d’Ormale told the magazine. He described being by her side until the very end. “I never left her side. I watched over her, supported by nurses who came discreetly every day,” he said, according to a translated report.
He also reflected on their quiet daily routines in her final days. “In the morning, when I served her the breakfast she loved. Like a child, she also had her afternoon snack: tea with milk and a croissant,” he recalled.
Of the moment she died, d’Ormale said, “I was half asleep beside her. I sat up when I heard her say ‘Pioupiou,’ that little nickname we used for each other in private, and then it was over.”
He added that “a sense of peace and tranquility settled over her face,” saying she looked “incredibly beautiful again.”
Bardot’s foundation confirmed her death on Dec. 28, praising her decision to leave acting behind to dedicate her life to animal welfare. A private funeral service was held in Saint-Tropez, followed by burial “in the strictest privacy,” according to the Associated Press.
