Presidential palace opened to the public to sign book of condolence for ex-president

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Hundreds of people have lined up at the presidential palace in Paris to pay their respects to Jacques Chirac, a giant of French politics for three decades whose death sparked tributes to a complex but charismatic leader.

Chirac, president from 1995 to 2007, died on Thursday aged 86 after a long period of ill-health, with President Emmanuel Macron giving an address to the nation praising “a man whom we loved as much as he loved us”.

Even opponents hailed his charm and qualities as a political fighter, including how he stood up to Washington in 2003 by opposing the Iraq war.

But others questioned how much he had achieved during a long period in office, with his career also shadowed by a conviction for corruption during his time as Paris mayor.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Friday’s editions of French newspapers and magazines pay tribute to Jacques Chirac. Photograph: Christophe Petit-Tesson/EPA

Ahead of a public ceremony on Sunday, the French presidency threw open the doors of the Élysée Palace for people to sign a book of condolence.

Hundreds queued on Thursday evening, with a line stretching down the gravel courtyard that is normally strictly off limits to the public.

“He had a presence, he was charismatic – which later presidents are not,” said Pierre-Yves as he waited to sign the book overnight. “Jacques Chirac was the politician of my childhood,” recalled Marion. People were allowed in again on Friday morning.

“I express my admiration and tenderness for the last of the great presidents,” read one tribute. “Thank you for fighting, thank you for this freedom and good spirits.

A ceremony for members of the public will be held on Sunday at the Invalides memorial complex in Paris, the Élysée and his family announced. This will be followed by a day of national mourning on Monday when a commemorative service will be held at the Saint Sulpice church in the Saint-Germain-des-Pres area of central Paris.

The former prime minister, mayor of Paris and president will then be buried in the Montparnasse cemetery in a private ceremony, said Chirac’s son-in-law, Frédéric Salat-Baroux. Chirac will be buried next to his daughter Laurence, who died in 2016.

Portraits of Chirac adorned the front pages of all France’s newspapers, with Le Parisien using the headline “So French. The adieu to the ’nice’ president.” The Eiffel Tower’s lights were also switched off late on Thursday in a sign of respect.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest People sign condolence registers for Jacques Chirac at the Élysée palace in Paris on Thursday. Photograph: Geoffroy van der Hasselt/AFP/Getty Images

The centre-right Chirac finally succeeded his long-time political rival, the Socialist Francois Mitterrand, as president in 1995 after two previously unsuccessful bids to secure the Élysée.

His death prompted intense discussions about his legacy to France, with commentators united in admiration of his wily political skills and homely style, but divided on what he achieved.

His reputation is also overshadowed by a conviction for corruption dating to his time as mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995, although it did not cause a major dent in his popularity.

After losing his presidential immunity, he became the first former head of state to go on trial in 2011 and was given a suspended jail term.

Chirac, whose extramarital affairs were an open secret, had barely been seen in public in recent years. He suffered a stroke in 2005 and underwent kidney surgery in December 2013.

Chirac had always extolled his love of France and its modern leaders paid tribute above all to a man who had represented the values and symbols of his country.

Jacques Chirac obituary Read more

“As a leader who was able to represent the nation in its diversity and complexity… President Chirac embodied a certain idea of France,” said Macron, recalling how Chirac had himself paid an eloquent tribute to his old foe Mitterrand when he died in 1996.

Macron cited in particular Chirac’s foreign policy choices, notably for refusing to take France to war in 2003 in the US-led invasion of Iraq without a UN mandate.

He said Chirac was being mourned “not just across our own country” and that he had led an “independent and proud France, capable of rising up against an unjustified military intervention”.