Exploring Brigitte Bardot’s Complex Relationship with Her Son
Following the announcement of French icon Brigitte Bardot’s death at 91 on December 28, 2025, fans delved deeper into her personal life.
While Bardot gained fame for her film career and animal rights advocacy, her personal life also attracted significant media attention. She was the mother of one child, a son named Nicolas Charrier, born in 1960 during her marriage to her second spouse, Jacques Charrier.
In her own words, parenthood was not something Bardot cherished; she candidly expressed her mixed feelings about motherhood in her memoirs and various media interviews.
“I looked at my flat, slender belly in the mirror like a dear friend upon whom I was about to close a coffin lid,” she penned in Initiales B.B.
Even though he sought to block the book’s release, Charrier eventually wrote his own memoir to address the impact of Bardot’s omissions on her legacy.
“The reality of her love for Nicolas, confirmed by the letters I kept, is much more to her credit than the horrors she wrote,” he stated in an interview with The Telegraph in June 2025.
Continue reading to learn more about Bardot’s complex relationship with her son Nicolas.
She Gave Birth At Home
Bardot chose to deliver her son at home in Paris, France, successfully welcoming him into the world on January 11, 1960.
She Admitted She Didn’t Want To Be A Mother
Bardot was candid about her reluctance towards motherhood in her memoirs. “I looked at my flat, slender belly in the mirror like a dear friend upon whom I was about to close a coffin lid,” she reflected in her 1995 memoir, Initiales B.B.
According to Newsweek, Bardot also disclosed attempts to induce a miscarriage, stating she would have “preferred to give birth to a little dog.”
Her Son Was Raised By His Grandparents
As reported by Newsweek, after Bardot and Charrier’s divorce, he was granted full custody, and their son was primarily raised by his paternal grandparents.
He Tried To Stop The Release Of Her Memoir
In 1997, Nicolas and Charrier both filed a lawsuit against Bardot, aiming to halt the publication of her revealing memoir, Initiales BB. The actress alleged abuse by her ex-husband, while she expressed discomfort about her growing son, describing him as “like a tumor.”
Her Ex-Husband Wrote His Own Response
Charrier published his own memoir in 1997, which he claimed was intended to “rehabilitate” Bardot’s image.
“The reality of her love for Nicolas, confirmed by the letters I kept, holds more credit than the horrors she recounted,” he told The Telegraph.
Brigitte Quit Talking About Her Son
In 2024, Bardot disclosed that she had vowed to her son not to discuss him publicly anymore.
“I promised Nicolas I would never talk about him in my interviews,” she remarked to the French publication Le Point.
She Had Grandchildren and Great-Grandchildren
During the same interview with Le Point, Bardot shared that she has two granddaughters named Théa and Anna Charrier, along with three great-grandchildren. “Yes, I’m the great-grandmother of three little Norwegian children who don’t speak French and whom I rarely see,” she explained.
