[custom_adv] World Leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, gathered on Monday in the French capital for the funeral of former President Jacques Chirac, who died at 86. [custom_adv] Chirac was feted by many French people for asserting the country’s role as a global player and for opposing the 2003 invasion of Iraq, while a conviction after he left the office for misusing public funds did little to tarnish his image. [custom_adv] Military honours will be paid to Chirac at the Hotel des Invalides in central Paris, where he has been lying in state before his coffin is taken in a procession to the church of Saint Sulpice. [custom_adv] There, the visiting heads of state and government will join French dignitaries at a funeral ceremony. Later, French President Emmanuel Macron will host the visiting leaders at a lunch at the Elysee Palace. [custom_adv] Other leaders attending the ceremony include German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, according to the Elysee Palace. [custom_adv] Chirac is to be buried at the Montparnasse cemetery in Paris, in a plot next to his daughter Laurence, who died in 2016. [custom_adv] Chirac's widow Bernadette, who is said to be in frail health, attended a private service earlier but was not present at the main ceremony. [custom_adv] Chirac's immediate successors, Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande, were both present, as, in a rare public appearance, was the third president of France's modern Fifth Republic, Valery Giscard d'Estaing, 93. [custom_adv] Far-right leader Marine Le Pen, whose father and former far-right chief Jean-Marie Le Pen was an arch-foe of Chirac, opted in the end not to attend after Chirac's family made known she would not be welcome. [custom_adv] Other leaders at the Saint-Sulpice funeral included German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri. Prince Edward, youngest son of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, also attended. European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker pulled out for health reasons, a spokeswoman said. [custom_adv] President Macron will host the visiting leaders at a lunch at the Elysee Palace, though Putin was expected to fly out before the lunch, the Elysee said. [custom_adv] Earlier on Monday, Chirac’s coffin was taken from the Hotel Des Invalides - originally a home for wounded servicemen — by a military honour guard. [custom_adv] A sombre-looking Macron bowed his head in front of Chirac’s casket before 10 members of the elite Republican guard lifted the coffin onto their shoulders and marched out of the building’s courtyard as a band played Chopin’s funeral march. [custom_adv] Guests included Russian President Vladimir Putin, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and former US President Bill Clinton. According to the Elysee Palace and the European Commission, the outgoing head of the Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, had been expected to attend, but was unable due to health reasons. [custom_adv] Germany's ex-chancellor Gerhard Schröder was also expected to travel to Paris. However, his office said that Schröder had not been formally invited by French officials, and a chair marked with his name was left empty during a church service honoring Chirac, according to an AFP reporter. [custom_adv] The reasons for the missing invitation were not immediately clear. It was also unclear if Schröder would attend the subsequent lunch with President Macron. The former German leader became a controversial figure after leaving office in 2005 due to his extensive connections with Russian state energy companies.
