Brigitte Bardot’s Cause of Death Revealed

Brigitte Bardot was diagnosed with cancer prior to her death at age 91 on Dec. 28.

The late And God Created Woman actress’ husband, Bernard d’Ormale, told French magazine Paris Match ahead of Bardot’s funeral on Wednesday that his wife had died peacefully at her home in Saint-Tropez, France, after going through two surgeries for cancer and experiencing extreme back pain.

“I never left her side. I watched over her, supported by nurses who came discreetly every day,” said d’Ormale, who married Bardot in 1992, in French. He recalled of her final moments, “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.”

D’Ormale also shared details of Bardot’s passing, telling the outlet, “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.” It was then that “a sense of peace and tranquility settled over her face. And she became incredibly beautiful again, just like in her youth,” he said. “You wouldn’t have believed she was 91.”

The death of Bardot, who became an animal rights activist and far-right supporter after retiring from acting, was revealed on Dec. 28 in a statement from the Brigitte Bardot Foundation, which announced that “with immense sadness the death of its Founder and President, Mrs. Brigitte Bardot, a world-renowned actress and singer, who chose to give up her prestigious career to dedicate her life and energy to animal welfare and her Foundation.”

Bradot was laid to rest in a private service at the Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption Catholic Church in Saint Tropez on Wednesday

“Sadness is overwhelming, and pain too,” said Max Guazzini, a friend and secretary general of the Foundation, in a speech at the service, according to the Associated Press.

“We’re going to dream about her as if we were sleeping. In our dream, Brigitte arrives in a great, white immensity and suddenly … thousands of seals arrive,” he continued. “All the animals she saved and she loved form a procession behind her … Thousands of animals say: Brigitte, we will miss you, we love you so much, thank you.”