Brigitte Bardot’s widower says he has been forced out of the Saint-Tropez home where they spent more than three decades together and is preparing legal action against her animal welfare charity.
Bernard d’Ormale, 85, was excluded from the actress and campaigner’s will, which divided her assets equally between her son, Nicolas-Jacques Charrier, and the Fondation Brigitte Bardot. He now lives in a 29-square-metre council flat and is permitted to visit La Madrague during the day to feed the cats.
The property, a former fisherman’s cottage on the outskirts of Saint-Tropez, is estimated to be worth up to £22 million. It was donated to the foundation by Bardot in 1992, although Mr d’Ormale says leaving the house has compounded his grief following her death last year.
The couple were together for 33 years, making their relationship the longest of Bardot’s four marriages or partnerships. They largely avoided public life and spent birthdays, anniversaries and Christmas at La Madrague, surrounded by animals and often sharing slices of the actress’s apple tart.
Mr d’Ormale also claims he was removed last month as president of the foundation, a role he was given after Bardot’s death to continue her animal welfare work.
Widower condemns auction of Bardot’s belongings
His anger has focused particularly on the foundation’s decision to auction about 300 of Bardot’s personal possessions. The sale, which included photographs, paintings, nightwear and underwear, raised almost one million euros, or about £808,000.
“Brigitte has been scattered all over the place, like grains of sugar,” Mr d’Ormale said. “These items were bought by fans, people who loved Brigitte very much, but it’s not their fault. It’s the foundation’s.”
He said the charity was failing to protect Bardot’s memory and accused its members of behaving “like a pack of werewolves”. He maintains that he did not approve the sale, despite the foundation’s suggestion that he had given his blessing.
Among the items he says were meant to be returned or placed in storage are a photograph of Bardot aged five with a teddy bear, an image of her at La Madrague with her dogs, and a caricature by the artist Jean-Jacques Sempé.
“This is no way to preserve Brigitte’s memory by scattering her belongings all over the place, especially when the foundation does not need the money,” he said.
Mr d’Ormale’s lawyer, Aurelie-Caroline Vieugue, said he had been treated “worse than a criminal” and described the couple’s relationship as a 33-year love story.
Mr d’Ormale says he cared for Bardot during the final years of her life as she battled terminal cancer and eventually lost the use of both legs. He intends to challenge the charity and said: “I am going to fight to get La Madrague back. It is not lost yet.”
Foundation says departure was legally required
The Fondation Brigitte Bardot disputes his account. It says there was never any intention to oust him and that his departure from La Madrague was required by law because Bardot had donated the property to the organisation.
The foundation said Mr d’Ormale was given six months to leave, as stipulated by Bardot, and that it helped him find accommodation in Saint-Tropez. It also said he had been offered the use of Bardot’s Paris flat for the rest of his life but declined it, after which the property was put up for sale.
It argues that allowing him to remain at La Madrague would expose the charity to legal risk. The organisation has also said it is “false and insulting” to suggest that it is erasing Bardot’s legacy.
Mr d’Ormale’s exclusion from the estate is linked in part to the status of the couple’s marriage. They married in Norway after meeting in Saint-Tropez, but because there was no civil ceremony in France, the union was not formalised there and he did not receive the inheritance rights normally available to a spouse.
He insists that he never sought Bardot’s money and had even advised her to appoint a lawyer as executor of her will. Instead, he says, he wanted to retain control of her legacy and ensure that her wishes were respected.
There is no apparent hostility between Mr d’Ormale and Bardot’s son. He has said Nicolas-Jacques Charrier is an honest man and should not be drawn into the dispute, despite approving the auction so that his mother’s belongings would not remain in storage.
Mr d’Ormale said he missed Bardot terribly and remembered thousands of happy moments with her. “She was an exceptionally intelligent woman and I miss her terribly,” he said.
