Fans of French film great Alain Delon gathered at the gates of his rural estate on Saturday before his private funeral, which was attended by his children, relatives, and closest friends.
Thousands of followers were expected to pay their respects outside the house south of Paris, where he was to be laid to rest with his pet dogs.
The 88-year-old star of classics like “Le Samourai” and “Purple Noon,” who was once dubbed “Europe’s James Dean,” died on Sunday.
French police set up barricades near the manor in Douchy, and the airspace overhead was closed for the whole weekend.
The 50 or so mourners let into the estate’s private chapel must leave their mobile phones at the door.
But famous Italian actress Claudia Cardinale, 86, who featured opposite Delon in “The Leopard,” was “too sad” to attend, her agency said.
“They ask me to put into words (the grief),” she said after his death, “but the sadness is too intense”.
Rosalie van Breemen, Delon’s ex-wife and mother of his children Anouchka and Alain-Fabien, will be present, sources close to proceedings told AFP.
All week hundreds of fans have gathered outside the gates of La Brulerie to leave floral tributes and cards. Hours before the ceremony, a crowd had already begun to gather.
Delon’s three children — who were with him when he died — told AFP that they were “extremely touched by the fervour and affection shown by his fans in France and across the world.”
The ceremony is scheduled for 4:00 pm (1400 GMT).
Divisive figure
Since his death, France has been paying tribute to Delon, one of the country’s most famous but polarizing figures.
He was one of the few living legends from the golden age of French cinema in the 1960s.
Despite having thousands of fans throughout the world, Delon’s relationships with women sparked controversy. Delon’s boys accused him of domestic abuse, which he denied while confessing to slapping women.
The actor was also chastised for supporting Jean-Marie Le Pen, co-founder of the far-right National Front, and his opposition to same-sex unions.
Feminists were outraged at the Cannes Film Festival’s lifetime achievement award for him in 2019.
Delon spent his last years mostly as a loner, although his personal life kept him in the spotlight.
In 2023, his three children filed a complaint against his live-in aide, Hiromi Rollin, alleging harassment and threatening behavior.
The siblings then engaged in a public struggle in the media and courts over his health, which deteriorated following a stroke in 2019.
Even in death, he made news when it was revealed that he requested that his pet dog be euthanized and buried alongside him.
But his longtime friend and fellow 1960s screen icon Brigitte Bardot stated that the Belgian malinois named Loubo would be spared.
“The family of Alain Delon has indicated to us that they would care for him. Loubo will, of course, not be euthanized,” her foundation announced on the X social networking site.
Stephane Bern, a French TV presenter, said Delon’s desire to be buried with his dogs was very him, likening him to Frederick the Great of Prussia, who did the same.
He described the act as “majesty and panache,” “very Delon, worthy of a Leopard who had become a misanthrope.”
“I have absolutely no fear of death,” the actor said in 2011, posing for photos outside the mausoleum where he planned to be buried.
Delon, a Catholic, admitted to have a “mad passion” for the Virgin Mary, despite his reputation for being a womanizer both on and off screen.
“She is the woman I love most in the world,” he joked, “the one I talk most to.”