Etienne Cardiles and Xavier Jugelé's plans to spend their lives together were cut short when tragedy struck in late April. But now, Cardiles reaffirmed his love for his partner by marrying him, even though Jugelé was killed during a terror attack on the Champs-Élysées in the city of Paris.
The 37-year-old policeman was fatally shot during the attack, which happened just three days before the French presidential election. On Tuesday, Cardiles married him in a posthumous wedding. The marriage was authorized by former French President Francois Hollande before he left office.
France is one of the only countries where posthumous marriages are still legal. The law dates back to 1959, when a young woman named Irène Jodard begged former French President Charles de Gaulleto to let her marry her fiancé, who had drowned. According to the BBC, the union between Cardiles and Jugelé is believed to be the first same-sex posthumous marriage in France, and maybe even the world.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
As of now, there are not many details about the wedding. However, CNN reported it was a private ceremony in the town hall of the 14th arrondissement in Paris. Hollande and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo attended the weeding.
Cardiles previously made headlines around the world in late April when he delivered a heartbreaking eulogy for his partner.
"When the first messages appeared to inform Parisians that a grave incident was taking place on the Champs Elysees and that a policeman had lost his life, a small voice told me it was you, and that same voice reminded me of these generous and healing words: 'You will not have my hate,'" he said. "This hate, Xavier, I don’t have it because it never existed in you. Because that hate never made your heart beat."
He later added, "You lived a life of joy and immense smiles where love and tolerance were unchallenged masters. You left this life like a star."