Among the mourners at Brigitte Bardot's funeral, a little blonde girl in a navy velvet hat and smart coat stood out amongst the hundreds who had gathered to pay their respects.

The youngster is the late film icon's great-granddaughter and bears something of a resemblance to the French film legend who died in December aged 91.

Walking to the service at the Notre-Dame de l'Assomption church in Saint-Tropez hand in hand with her mother Anna Charrier Bjerkan, she was flanked by an older sister and brother - all Brigitte's great-grandchildren.

Also present was Anna's sister Thea Charrier and their father Nicolas Charrier, 65, Brigitte's only son.

The show of family unity was particularly poignant given the fraught relationship between Brigitte and Nicolas, who were estranged for decades throughout her life.

After declaring she would rather have 'given birth to a dog', she distanced herself from Nicolas after her divorce from his father Jacques Charrier and left his upbringing to her ex-husband's grandparents.

Although they later reconciled, she admitted that she'd not had much contact with Nicolas's two daughters and 'three little Norwegian great-grandchildren who don’t speak French'.

Despite the troubles of the past, the family were united in grief and ensured that even the very youngest members had the opportunity to say goodbye to the great-grandmother they barely knew. 

Anna Charrier (Brigitte Bardot's granddaughter) and her children arrive at Brigitte Bardot's funeral

Brigitte Bardot's son Nicolas-Jacques Charrier (L) walks in the cortege behind the hearse transporting the coffin of his mother

Anna Charrier and her daughter arrive at Brigitte Bardot's funeral

Bardot's relationship with son Nicolas 

Brigitte gave birth to her son Nicolas-Jacques in 1960, while married to actor Jacques Charrier with whom she starred in the film 'Babette Goes to War'.

At the time, she expressed that the pregnancy was the greatest tragedy, and she never accepted motherhood.

'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 wrote in her memoir.

Bardot said she previously had two dangerous abortions before giving birth to Nicholas, who she described as the 'object of my misfortune' in her book.

After her divorce from Jacques in 1962, Nicolas did not see his mother for decades due to her harsh remarks.

He was brought up by his paternal grandparents, with the actress later revealing in an interview that she couldn't raise him because she needed 'support' and 'roots', adding that she was 'uprooted, unbalanced, lost in that crazy world'.

She was also quoted as saying she would have rather given birth to a 'little dog' than her son.