In accordance with his last wishes, the actor will be buried in the chapel of his Loiret property on Saturday, August 24 at around 4 p.m., in the presence of around forty relatives.
A private ceremony, at the end of a life in the spotlight: Alain Delon’s funeral will take place on Saturday in the private chapel of his property in Douchy, celebrated by former bishop Jean-Michel Di Falco. This is in accordance with the wishes of the deceased, who had chosen in advance for this celebration the former bishop of Gap, 82 years old, long considered the chaplain of celebrities.
The funeral will take place behind closed doors in the chapel of the Douchy-Montcorbon (Loiret) property purchased by Alain Delon in 1971, La Brûlerie. They will take place at 4:00 p.m., the star’s three children specified in an exchange with AFP, confirming that Mgr Di Falco will celebrate the ceremony. Mgr Di Falco knew the actor, believing, “for a very long time”. The star of the Cheetah spoke about his faith in an interview in 2018, confiding his «passion folle» for the Virgin Mary. “She is the woman in the world that I love the most (…) and the one to whom I speak most often”he said then.
Alain Delon had long wanted to be buried at home, near his dogs. A procedure to “exceptional title” which requires prefectural authorization. The order authorizing the actor’s burial at his home was signed Tuesday afternoon by the prefect of Loiret, a source familiar with the process told AFP. It was sent to his family, the mayor, the Regional Health Agency and the funeral directors.
Flowers and registers in front of the gates
The magazine Paris Match reposted a 2011 photo of the actor standing next to the tomb where he plans to rest, in the chapel he had built on his property. “I have absolutely no fear of death”he declared. Alain Delon had also requested that his burial take place only in the presence of a few dozen relatives, without a national tribute like that reserved in 2021 for his friend and rival, Jean-Paul Belmondo, another sacred monster of the 7th art.
Adored far beyond France, Alain Delon, one of the legends of cinema history, died Sunday surrounded by his three children, Anthony, Anouchka and Alain-Fabien. On Wednesday, anonymous people came to sign the condolence books made available to the public to pay their respects, in front of the gate of the property. Some laid flowers. “I wanted to be as close as possible to him”explained to AFP a fan, Thierry Saint-Luc Pault, who made the trip from Nice. “A flower, a word, it’s symbolic, but it’s important to me.”
Under the eye of cameras and photo devices, Anouchka made a remarkable exit in front of the gates covered with bouquets, comforting those present, AFP noted. The village florist, Agnès Bourgoin, said she received “several orders from people invited to the funeral”without giving a name. Dozens of gendarmes are mobilized to monitor the surroundings of the property and one of the departmental roads that runs alongside it is closed to traffic.
The statement from the three children announcing this death also cited his Belgian Shepherd, Loubo. If the actor had said in 2018 that he would ask that this dog “die in [ses] bras» by being euthanized, nothing will happen. “No worries about Loubo! (…) He has his home and his family”the Brigitte Bardot Foundation said on Tuesday.
In 2017, Bishop Di Falco celebrated the funeral of actress Mireille Darc, who was Alain Delon’s partner for fifteen years and lived with him in Douchy. In 2016, an old accusation resurfaced against the prelate: a man sued him in civil court after saying he was the victim of rape and sexual assault over a period from 1972 to 1975, at the time when Father di Falco was the director of a Parisian college. The former priest of the diocese of Paris has always firmly denied these allegations, which were filed without further action and then refused to provide information in 2002 due to the statute of limitations.