A national tribute is paid this Wednesday March 20, 2024 to Admiral Philippe de Gaulle, who died a week ago at the age of 102. The ceremony is chaired by the Head of State Emmanuel Macron, in the heart of Les Invalides.
This Wednesday March 20, 2024, in the main courtyard of the Hôtel national des Invalides, Emmanuel Macron chairs a ceremony paying tribute to Admiral Philippe de Gaulle, son of the general, who died last Wednesday at the age of 102 . The President of the Republic intends to “honor an exemplary military and political career”. This is the 24th national tribute since his arrival at the Elysée seven years ago.
“The national tribute which will be paid to him this Wednesday will testify to his unwavering commitment to the French Navy, to France and to the values whose heritage he bore” underlines the Elysée in a press release. The ceremony will begin at 11:25 a.m. with the arrival of the presidential couple. Honors will be paid to the president, before the Marseillaise and a review of the Head of State's troops.
The coffin of Philippe de Gaulle will enter the courtyard of the Invalides to "Ar Mor Divent", music by Bagad de Lann-Bihoué, a Breton group of the national navy. Emmanuel Macron will deliver the eulogy. The bell "to the dead", a minute of silence before a second Marseillaise will be played in front of the coffin of the "admiral", before his departure. A navy Rafale will then fly over the site before a rendition of the “March of the 2nd DB” by the navy band and the French army choir.
Born on December 28, 1921, Philippe de Gaulle, son of General De Gaulle, died on the night of Tuesday March 12 to Wednesday March 13, 2024. He died at the National Institution of Invalides where he had been a resident for two years. Philippe De Gaulle was particularly known for his long and renowned military career which began at the Liberation, particularly in Paris. At the end of the 1960s, he failed to enter politics when a “legitimist” Gaullist party tried to form around him: the Center of Free Republicans. This did not prevent "Admiral" de Gaulle from becoming RPR senator from Paris in 1986. A position he kept until 2004. He had ended his military career much earlier, in 1982.
His end of life was an opportunity for him to enjoy the simple pleasures of life and to sharpen his curiosity, again and again. Sport, cinema, literature, music... The admiral never stopped learning, until the last day, always in the presence of his family. “When everything is going well, I receive visits from my family from time to time. I listen to classical music, I watch the big tennis, rugby and football matches on television,” he explained in a major interview given to Paris Match in November 2020.
