Stéphane Bern is feeling heavy-hearted this week. Not only because he, like the rest of the world, learned that Kate Middleton has cancer, as the Princess of Wales chose to announce it herself in a video posted on social media that she shares with her husband Prince William, but also because the 60-year-old TV host lost a close friend: Frédéric Mitterrand. Both shared a love for television, for royalty, among other things.
On this Sunday, March 24, 2024, La Tribune dimanche published a long tribute from Stéphane Bern to Frédéric Mitterrand in its columns, three days after the death of the former TV host and former Minister of Culture, who passed away from an aggressive cancer at the age of 76. The article, titled “Du côté de chez Fred,” shares several memories and anecdotes.
Stéphane Bern, who was recently elected as a councilor in Perche with an overwhelming majority (97%), living with his partner Yori, recounts a 2010 evening when he still lived in Paris. He recalls, “I remember that in 2010, while living in a historic house in the 9th arrondissement where Victor Hugo had lived upon his return from exile, he [Frédéric Mitterrand] came to dinner among a few mutual friends to award me with the Officer of Arts and Letters insignia.” Memories still vivid in Stéphane Bern’s mind.
Stéphane Bern learned of Frédéric Mitterrand’s death live on the show “C à vous.”
Last Thursday evening, Stéphane Bern was on the set of “C à vous” on France 5. It was live on air that he found out about Frédéric Mitterrand’s passing, as the news had just been announced by AFP. With tears in his eyes, he said, “I’m very emotional because obviously he was my role model, he was a friend. I would find it hard to talk about him in the past tense.”
He shared that he knew Frédéric Mitterrand was ill and that he regularly checked in on him before adding, “It really touches me. I think, it’s horrible what I’m going to say, I think he shouldn’t have been a minister. He was a minister and he told me, ‘What I love is making television, telling stories.’ And everyone turned their back on him after that. When you enter politics, take on responsibilities, become a minister… people no longer ask him to host shows, he struggled to bounce back. He wrote books. He is a great writer, someone with sensitivity, he made wonderful films.”
Frédéric Mitterrand’s funeral will take place on Tuesday, March 26 at 3 pm at the Saint-Thomas d’Aquin church in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. The public will also be able to attend based on available space once family and dignitaries are seated. The cremation will happen privately in the days following the funeral.
