Hundreds of mourners packed into Montreal’s famed Notre-Dame basilica to celebrate the life of Rene Angelil, music producer and late husband to Celine Dion Friday afternoon.
Angelil died of throat cancer last week, just two days shy of his 74th birthday, and was given the honour of a national funeral by Quebec’s provincial legislature, a step lower than a state funeral reserved for provincial premiers.
Music industry and sports personalities, celebrities, politicians and fans braved the cold to bid farewell to the man credited with transforming Dion into an international superstar.
The Quebec songstress arrived outside Notre-Dame Basilica shortly before 3 p.m. with family members, and the couple’s three children: five-year-old twin boys Nelson and Eddy, and 14-year-old son Rene-Charles.
Visibly pained, with a thin black veil draped over her delicate head, Dion entered the church in Old Montreal at 3:20 p.m. as a recording of her 1984 song Trois heures vingt (Twenty Minutes Past Three), played through the sound system.
Dion carefully placed deep purple calla lilies on a pillow resting on the dark casket of her former manager and husband of 21 years, before taking a seat for the Catholic service.
Angelil wanted his funeral mass to take place in the same church where the pair exchanged their wedding vows in December 1994.
In a eulogy, René-Charles, who turns 15 next week, said he was “lucky to be born in a family where there was a lot of love.”
“Fifteen years is not a long time for a son to get to know his father, you had a busy life but we were communicating through golf, hockey, poker and smoked meat,” he said drawing laughter from the audience, and a smile from his grieving mother.
“You’re a tough act to follow, but with your help, everything is going to be fine.… I promise you that we are going to live up to your standards. Je t’aime papa (I love you dad).”
The singer did not perform at the funeral, but several of her songs accompanied the service. As the family left the church, after pausing for photos, Dion ran her finger along the top of the casket and leaned down to kiss it.
“I understood that my career was in a way his masterpiece,” Dion said in a message shared with members of the public who visited the Notre-Dame Basilica on Thursday.
“I realized that if he ever left us, I would have to continue without him, for him.”
With files from CBC News and The Canadian Press
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