What to know

• Long seen as the cool, coifed wife of the president, she emerged as a political player in her own right, as well as a relentless champion of charities.S1
• Widow of French ex-president Jacques Chirac was a steely behind-the-scenes operator known for her charity workBernadette Chirac, the formidable widow of the former French president Jacques Chirac and a driving force behind his political rise, has died at the a...S2