Coco Chanel
As 1971 began, Chanel was 87 years old, tired, and ailing. She carried out her usual routine of preparing the spring catalogue. She had gone for a long drive the afternoon of Saturday, 9 January. Soon after, feeling ill, she went to bed early. She died on Sunday, 10 January 1971, at the Hotel Ritz, where she had resided for more than 30 years.
Her funeral was held at the Église de la Madeleine; her fashion models occupied the first seats during the ceremony and her coffin was covered with white flowers—camellias, gardenias, orchids, azaleas and a few red roses. She died in her infamous style, announcing: "You see, this is how you die."
Peter Chanel
Bishop Pompallier heard of the death of Chanel on 4 November 1841 while he was at Akaroa and arranged for a French naval corvette commanded by the Comte du Bouzet, "L’Allier", to accompany the mission schooner "Sancta Maria" and sail on 19 November for Wallis and Futuna, taking with him Philippe Viard. The two vessels arrived at Uvea on 30 December 1841. The bishop sent Viard to Futuna, where he landed on 18 January 1842. A chief named Maligi, who had not agreed to Chanel's murder, agreed to disinter Chanel's body and brought it to the "L’Allier" the next day, wrapped in several local mats.