Los Angeles: Singer Celine Dion personally greeted mourners at her husband Rene Angelil’s wake. The 47-year-old ‘My Heart Will Go On’ hitmaker struggled to hold back her tears as she stood by her husband’s open casket inside the Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal, Canada, reported Us magazine.
Wearing a black gown and net veil, Dion was comforted by her mother Therese and her eldest son Rene-Charles, 14, as she watched hundreds of relatives, politicians and fans pay their last respects to Angelil.
She was seen dabbing her eyes at points with a tissue as the wake proved somewhat overwhelming. At one point, when she was left alone with the casket, Dion was seen tenderly placing her hands on her spouse’s body as she bid him goodbye.
Mourners at the wake were greeted by a huge portrait of Angelil on a large screen outside the cathedral. He will be laid to rest in a state funeral that will be held at the venue and the service will also be streamed live worldwide.
After Angelil’s death, following a lengthy battle with throat cancer, Dion took to her Facebook page to post a touching tribute to her husband and manager. “He will be remembered as a gentle man, generous and kind, an unprecedented visionary, a modern Pygmalion, a Renaissance man.
“All who had the privilege of knowing him and of working closely with him, whether personally or professionally, salute a leader and a man of great intelligence and wisdom,” she wrote.
PTI