PARIS - French screen icon Brigitte Bardot will be buried in her hometown of Saint-Tropez on Wednesday, with the low-key funeral set to reflect her lifelong love of animals as well as her far-right political views.
Many eyes will be on the guests at the service at Notre-Dame de l'Assomption church, burial at a seaside cemetery and a public event in the Riviera resort.
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen has confirmed she will attend, while President Emmanuel Macron will not.
Some showbiz stars can be expected, but her animal rights foundation has stressed it will be a "no frills" event.
"The ceremony will reflect who she was, with the people who knew and loved her. There will no doubt be some surprises, but it will be simple, just as Brigitte wanted," Bruno Jacquelin, spokesman for the Brigitte Bardot Foundation, told AFP.
The funeral will be shown on public screens in Saint-Tropez for well-wishers and fans who are expected to shrug off brisk winter temperatures to pay a final tribute.
The star of "And God Created Woman" died aged 91 on December 28 at her home in Saint-Tropez, where she retreated after giving up her film career in the early 1970s. No cause of death has been given.
Bardot was a divisive figure who alienated many fans with her anti-immigration and racist political views in later life.
Her death sparked mixed reactions. Observers agreed that she was a cinema legend who came to embody the sexual revolution of the 1960s through her acting and daring, unconventional persona.
But having been convicted five times for hate speech, particularly about Muslims, left-wing figures have offered only muted tributes -- and sometimes none at all.
She is survived by her fourth husband, Bernard d'Ormale, a former advisor to Le Pen's late father Jean-Marie, an outspoken far-right leader.
No information has been given about whether Bardot's only child, Nicolas-Jacques Charrier, will attend the funeral.
In 2018, Brigitte Bardot had said she wished to be buried in the garden of her home along with her pets to avoid a "crowd of idiots" trampling on the tombs of her parents and grandparents who are in the same cemetery where she will be interred.