Photo Story: Former French president Valery Giscard d’Estaing laid to rest
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Catholic priests pray around the French flag-draped coffin of the late former French President Valery Giscard d’Estaing, in front of the Saint Hilaire church in Authon, France, 05 December 2020.
Giscard died of complications after contracting COVID 19 disease, at the age of 94. The former French president Valery Giscard D’Estaing was head of state from 1974 to 1981.
Anne-Aymone Giscard d’Estaing, wife of the late former French President Valery Giscard d’Estaing, and relatives follow the European and French flag-draped coffin containing Giscard d’Estaing’s remains at the Saint Hilaire church in Authon, France.
It had been the wish of Giscard, who ruled France from 1974-1981 and died on Wednesday of Covid-19 aged 94, to have such a small-scale ceremony, which was attended by around 40 people.
The ceremony, in the town of Authon in the Loire region of central France where he lived, contrasted with the lavish send-off for former president Jacques Chirac when he died in 2019.
Chirac was given a lying-in-state with thousands paying respects at his coffin in Paris before a funeral ceremony at the Saint Sulpice church attended by all France’s living former leaders.
That ceremony in September 2019 was also the last time Giscard was seen in public.
