A right-wing historian shot himself dead in front of hundreds of tourists at the altar of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris today, apparently in protest at France’s legalisation of gay marriage.

Dominique Venner, who had recently been campaigning against gay marriage in France, is said to have calmly walked past the crowds milling around the 850-year-old Cathedral, one of the most popular tourist sites in the world, before taking out a Herstal automatic pistol.

The 78-year-old put the gun in his mouth and fired before collapsing on to the altar, according to French media reports.

Mr Venner, who was awarded a prestigious prize by l’Académie française for one of his historical works,  was a former member of the Secret Army Organisation (OAS), the paramilitary group which fought against France giving up Algeria as a colony.
He was jailed for 18 months in La Santé Prison as a political undesirable for his role in the ultra-national organisation and was freed in 1962.

The Cathedral was full of visitors when the horrific incident took place, at around 4pm.

‘There was screaming and lot so shouting following a loud bang,’ said one witness. ‘People were naturally very scared and began to run out in panic.

An unidentified police source said Mr Venner carried a letter on his person but made no declaration before shooting himself dead in the mid-afternoon, reports Reuters.

Notre Dame, which dates back to the 12th Century, has become a battleground for those fighting over homosexual marriage, with demonstrations regularly held around it.