No money from French tycoons as US donors foot Notre Dame repair bills

Instead, it has been mainly American citizens, through the charitable foundation Friends of Notre Dame, who have footed the bills and paid salaries for up to 150 workers employed since the April 15 fire that devastated the cathedral’s roof and caused its famous spire to collapse.

This month the foundation is handing over the first payment for the cathedral’s reconstruction of 3.6 million euros (£3.2 million).

“The big donors haven’t paid. Not a cent,” said Andre Finot, senior press official at Notre Dame.

“They want to know what exactly their money is being spent on and if they agree to it before they hand it over, and not just to pay employees’ salaries.”

Hundreds of millions was promised by some of France’s richest and most powerful families and companies, some of whom sought to outbid each other, in the hours and days after the fire.

It prompted criticism that the donations were as much about the vanity of the donors wishing to be immortalised in the edifice’s fabled stones than the preservation of church heritage.

Francois Pinault of Artemis, the parent company of Kering which owns Gucci and Saint Laurent, promised 100 million euros (£90 million), while Patrick Pouyanne, chief executive of French energy company Total, said his firm would match that figure.

Bernard Arnault, chief executive of luxury giant LVMH…