Brigitte Bardot's Final Husband Denounces Auction of Her Underwear

The final husband of French screen legend Brigitte Bardot has voiced strong objections to an auction of her personal effects, including underwear and toiletries, describing the sale as "scandalous" and a desecration of her memory.

Bernard d'Ormale, 85, who was married to Bardot for 30 years until her death in December at the age of 91, expressed his fury over the auction held in Paris. He stated that the items, which were kept at her Paris flat and her seaside home in St. Tropez, should not be "stripped bare" in this manner.

The auction, organized by Millon auction house, includes around 300 lots, such as Bardot's signature straw hats, a black tutu, berets, and classic ballet shoes. Proceeds from the sale are intended for the animal charity founded by Bardot and for her son, Nicholas Charrier.

Mr. d'Ormale, who now resides in a council flat after Bardot left him nothing in her will, questioned the purpose of the sale, particularly for the animals, calling it a "joke" and disrespectful. He suggested that the items could have been preserved for future public viewing at Bardot's former estate, La Madrague.

"Brigitte certainly wouldn't have agreed to this sale – she would have sent them packing," d'Ormale told the French newspaper Nice Matin. He also expressed concern that Bardot's properties, La Madrague and another estate in St. Tropez called La Garrigue, might also be sold off.

A spokesperson for the Brigitte Bardot Foundation countered that Mr. d'Ormale was president of the foundation when the auction was initially agreed upon, a claim he denies. The couple's marriage, while celebrated religiously in Norway in 1992, was never legally recognized in France.

Bardot, who retired from public life in 1973 after a prolific acting career and recording music, became a fervent animal rights activist. Throughout her life, she was also known for her outspoken views and faced legal issues, including convictions for inciting racial hatred.