Celine Dion mourns husband René Angélil at open casket visitation

Public visitors, including fans of Celine Dion, paid their respects on Thursday to the Canadian singer’s husband and manager Rene Angelil, who died last week following a long battle with cancer.

Dion and Angelil had three children – René-Charles, who was born in 2001, and twins Nelson and Eddy, who arrived in 2010.

Celine Dion waves after funeral services for Rene Angelil at Notre-Dame Basilica Friday, Jan. 22, 2016 in Montreal.

Rene-Charles spoke at the funeral in both French and English, saying about his father, “You’re a tough act to follow, but with your help, everything is going to be fine”.

They will stream the funeral online beginning at 3 PM Friday, and it will be presided over by Christian Lépine, the archbishop of Montreal. “Dad, I promise you here that we’re all going to live up to your standards”.

The couple had Wednesday at the same church 21 years ago.

“I did tell Celine, “thank you for being here” because she’s receiving everyone, one person at a time, and she’s taking more of her time”. If anyone needs a lot of love lately, it would be Miz Dion.

The singer did not perform at the funeral, but several of her songs accompanied the service.

Dion is expected to be at the Basilica at the beginning of the visitation, and again near the end.

Before Dion left the service with her family, she looked up toward the Notre-Dame Basilica’s towers, made a sign of the cross and kissed the tips of her fingers, raising them to the sky.

Others attending included Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair, Couillard and ex-premiers Bernard Landry and Jean Charest.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Retired National Hockey League coach Michel Bergeron, who once coached the Quebec City Nordiques and New York Rangers, was a close friend of Angélil’s.