Celine Dion's husband René Angélil planned his own funeral to spare his family.

A week after Celine Dion’s husband René Angélil lost his battle against cancer, it has emerged that he planned his own funeral to spare his family added pain.

Yahoo.com reported that Angélil, who passed away on January 14 aged 73, wished to hold his funeral at Notre-Dame Basilica, where he married Dion in 1994.

According to a source, Angélil chose that venue as “he obviously wanted to have his funeral where he married the love of his life.”

Dion's friend Annie Horth also told PEOPLE that Angélil wanted to plan his own funeral to help his wife grieve "peacefully and with control".

"René was generous enough to prepare all of this since the last few months... He didn't know when it would happen, but he really wanted everything to be already prepared," she said.

WATCH for more details on Celine and René's love story. Post continues after video...

According to Who, Dion spent the last year of her husband's life by his side "24/7" in case his health worsened.

A source told the publication that “every decision up until the day he died was made with him still".

"He had good days and bad days, some days he could get up and walk around the room, play with the kids, and some days he was too tired," the source said.

However, the couple also strove to keep their home lives as normal as possible for the sake of their three boys.

Celine and René first met when the Canadian songstress was just 12 years old. Despite their 26-year age gap, the pair married in 1994.

Celine gave birth to their first son, René-Charles Dion Angélil, in 2001, followed by twin boys, Eddy and Nelson, in 2010.

The pair had been married for 21 years at the time of Angélil's death - and in an added blow for Dion, 47, her brother Daniel died two days after her husband, also from cancer.

Our thoughts are with Dion and her family during this awful time.

TAP on the image below and scroll through th gallery to see pictures of Celine and René in happier times...