- Title: "Sorrow and relief" at Chirac's funeral, as French people say goodbye
- Date: 30th September 2019
- Summary: PALLBEARERS CARRYING COFFIN OUT OF CHURCH CROWD APPLAUDING AS COFFIN IS CARRIED OUT OF CHURCH VARIOUS OF COFFIN BEING PLACED IN HEARSE BY PALLBEARERS
- Embargoed: 14th October 2019 15:25
- Keywords: Chirac Michel Barnier Segolene Royal Saint-Sulpice funeral rites
- Location: PARIS, FRANCE
- City: PARIS, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA002AYUOI87
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Members of the public sang hymns, some shedding tears, outside Saint Sulpice Church in Paris to pay tribute to deceased former French president Jacques Chirac during his funeral on Monday (September 30).
About 30 current and former world leaders attended the funeral service for Chirac, who died last week at the age of 86.
"He was a man of the people," said Michel Barnier, now the European Commission's chief Brexit coordinator, who served as agriculture minister under Chirac. I'm proud to have served under him."
As Chirac's daughter Claude left the church with her husband Frederic Salat-Baroux, the crowd applauded. She clasped her hands to her chest in thanks.
Chirac, who served as president from 1995 to 2007, was feted by many French people for asserting their country's role as a global player, a stance that put him at odds with Washington over the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Chirac was from his earliest years a member of the French establishment, but he also had a knack for connecting with ordinary people outside the urban elite. A court conviction after he left office for misusing public funds did little to tarnish his image.
He was buried at the Montparnasse cemetery in Paris, in a plot next to his daughter Laurence, who died in 2016.
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