A handwritten letter from Brigitte Bardot to her last partner, Bernard d’Ascia, has intensified the dispute surrounding the actress’s estate and the future of the La Madrague estate in Saint-Tropez. The note is dated November 2022 and was written approximately three years before Bardot’s death.
In it, the actress accuses d’Ascia of “patiently destroying me day after day.” The letter begins with the words “Bernard, this is a complete fiasco!”, while at the end Bardot writes: “Today I have reached the limit of my suffering... I so desperately need a shoulder to lean on, support, tenderness and a presence – things you are not capable of giving me.”
The BBC reported that the letter has become an argument for the Brigitte Bardot Foundation in its conflict with d’Ascia. He accuses the organization of rushing to sell off the late actress’s possessions without respecting her memory and her relationships with those close to her.
The 85-year-old d’Ascia has left the coastal house where he had lived with Bardot since the early 1990s. According to media reports, he had been financially supported by the actress and currently has neither a bank account nor a health insurance card.
“I found it absolutely unbelievable that just a few months after Brigitte’s death, they already wanted to turn her belongings into souvenirs. I didn’t like that at all,” d’Ascia said regarding the sale of items from the actress’s Paris apartment.
The auction in September raised nearly €1 million. The sum was divided between the foundation and Bardot’s only son, Nicolas Charrier, who lives in Oslo.
French legend Brigitte Bardot died in December 2025. Her will divides her estate between the foundation and her son, while Bernard d’Ascia is not named as an heir. The two had been together for more than 30 years, but their marriage was not recognized under French law.
The documents also stipulate that the La Madrague estate must be vacated within six months of the actress’s death. Foundation president Max Guazzini defended the decision.
“From a human point of view, d’Ascia’s reluctance to leave the property is entirely understandable,” but “that is the law, and it is also the express wish of Brigitte Bardot herself,” Guazzini said.
The foundation claims that Bardot’s Mini Moke car went missing while the final inventory of assets from La Madrague was being prepared. “I am not accusing him of theft, but the car is simply missing, and that is a problem,” Guazzini said.
d’Ascia has been placed in municipal housing in Saint-Tropez. According to the foundation, he has no inheritance rights apart from a possible share in the Paris apartment, which has been put up for sale.
Maintaining La Madrague and Bardot’s second estate, La Garrigue, requires considerable funds and round-the-clock security. The idea of turning La Madrague into a museum was rejected because of the lack of road access.
Instead, the foundation is discussing organized guided tours, as well as renting out the property for fashion shows and film shoots. After retiring from cinema in 1973, Bardot devoted her work to animal protection, and her foundation says it currently cares for 13,000 animals.