The summer of 2023 was turned upside down by the death of Jane Birkin. The icon of the sixties and Muse by Serge Gainsbourg died at the age of 76 following a stroke and “ 16 years of a fierce battle against illness ». « For a few days, she had been walking again, was motivated to reprogram her Olympia and had decided to regain her independence. This first evening alone will have been the last. She had decided » could we read in a press release shared by his two daughters Charlotte Gainsbourg and Lou Doillon, inconsolable at the time of his funeral. While many tributes have been paid to her, a member of Jane Birkin’s family is now coming out of silence: Roman de Kermadec, her grandson, and son of the photographer Kate Barry, who died in 2013.
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“She was like a second mother to me”
While an exhibition of photos of his mother takes place in Paris until March, Roman de Kermadec speaks to evoke the strong bond which united him to his grandmother Jane. “ We were more than close. We saw each other very often. She was like a second mother to me when mine left. She never gave up on me, even in difficult times. The day she left, we were supposed to have lunch together » reveals the artist, now 37 years old, in a rare interview given to Gala. He takes the opportunity to speak openly about the last moments of Jane Birkin, while she was fighting against illness: “ She had been ill for a very long time. She hid it well, never complained. She was asked to stop the scene but she wanted to continue. We let her do it… Even if she had to cancel her last concerts, she really went all the way “. He also had a documentary project on his mother Kate Barry, where Jane Birkin was to do the voice-over: “ But she left too soon. I don’t know yet if this documentary will see the light of day… ».
In the rest of the interview, Romain de Kermadec also discusses the death of his mother Kate, which occurred due to a fatal fall at her home. If the causes of this fall have never been clarified, was it really an accident for his son? “ We’ll never know. That day, I was filming and I felt really bad, as if I had sensed that something was happening… I went home and I got this famous phone call… » he replies.
