WEB DESK
Former French President Jacques Chirac was given full military honours today as current and past world leaders gathered in Paris to attend his final service.
President Emmanuel Macron cut a solemn figure as he presided over the ceremony near the site of Napoleon’s tomb in the courtyard of Les Invalides. A military band played the national anthem, “La Marseillaise,” before Macron inspected the troops.
Jacques Chirac’s casket, covered with a Tricolor flag, was then carried to the centre of the courtyard.
Emmanuel Macron, who did not speak, will also attend a memorial service at the Church of Saint-Sulpice in downtown Paris alongside dozens of French politicians and foreign officials.
They include Russian President Vladimir Putin, former US President Bill Clinton, former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and Jordan’s King Abdallah II. A private funeral will take place later at the Montparnasse cemetery.
Jacques Chirac died Thursday at the age of 86. A mainstay of French politics over four decades, he served as Paris mayor, a lawmaker, prime minister and the president from 1995 to 2007.