Brigitte Bardot's disinherited final husband - who was living with her in luxury until her death - speaks of his fury from his council flat as her belongings go under the hammer after she left him NOTHING
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By PETER ALLEN
Published: | Updated:
In life she always created a storm, first as cinema's original 'sex kitten' and later as an outspoken animal rights activist.
And now, almost a year after her death, Brigitte Bardot is still making waves – in a row over an auction of her clothes and underwear.
The French cultural icon's disinherited fourth – and final – husband has condemned the sell-off as 'scandalous'.
Bernard d'Ormale, 85, was until last year living in luxury with the former actress at their home in St Tropez, in the South of France.
But when Ms Bardot died in December aged 91, despite their 30 years together she left him nothing in her will.
Now living in a council flat, Mr d'Ormale is furious over the auction in Paris today because it will 'strip her bare'.
Items on sale include Ms Bardot's trademark straw sun hats, a black tutu, berets, toiletries, underwear and classic Repetto ballet shoes.
They were kept at her flat in the French capital and at La Madrague, her home by the Mediterranean which she bought in 1958 after making her name in the classic film, And God Created Woman.
Sex kitten: Brigitte Bardot rose to fame in France in the 1950s
Stripped bare: Bardot with her fourth husband Bernard d’Ormale
Reacting to the sale, organised by auction house Millon to raise money for the animal charity founded by Ms Bardot and for her son Nicholas Charrier, now 66,
Mr d'Ormale said: 'These are personal items. Why hold this sale? For the animals? It's a joke and disrespectful to Brigitte's memory.
'All of this could have been kept for the day when people are able to visit La Madrague. It's scandalous to strip her bare in this way.'
In total about 300 lots will be offered at the Hotel Drouot, and Mr d'Ormale now fears La Madrague, and Ms Bardot's other estate in St Tropez – La Garrigue – will go the same way.
He told French newspaper Nice Matin: 'If the idea ever crosses their minds to sell everything off just like this auction, how can I prove the items belonged to Brigitte or were part of my private life?
'Brigitte certainly wouldn't have agreed to this sale – she would have sent them packing.'
The couple had a religious wedding in Norway in 1992 but their marriage was never valid in France. When asked about being disinherited in Ms Bardot's will,
Mr d'Ormale claimed: 'I was the one who told her I didn't want anything at all.'
A spokesman for the Brigitte Bardot Foundation insisted Mr d'Ormale himself was president when the auction was agreed, although he denies this.
Discussing La Madrague, Mr d'Ormale said: 'I've lived there for 35 years and now I'm being kicked out – can you believe it?'
Beyond her 47 films, Ms Bardot recorded 70 songs before retiring from public life in 1973. Later, the outspoken Right-winger was convicted and fined six times for inciting racial hatred.
She was married four times – to director Roger Vadim, actor Jacques Charrier with whom she had Nicholas, socialite Gunter Sachs, and then Mr d'Ormale.
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