These days, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy is just a bittersweet memory in the minds of those who remember her. Back in the ‘90s, though, she was the American equivalent of Prince Meghan Markle. That’s because she had married America’s very own prince: John F. Kennedy, Jr., the son of the famous president.
The two had a whirlwind relationship, and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy became one of the decade’s greatest tastemakers. After all, she was a fashion icon married to American royalty. However, both she and JFK Jr. died in the same plane crash in 1999, effectively bringing their reign to a tragic end. Decades later, we’ve decided to take a closer look at her life and answer the question that everyone in the ‘90s kept asking: what was Bessette-Kennedy really like when the cameras weren’t rolling?
Anger over never meeting Jackie Kennedy
On paper, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy would have been great friends. After all, they were both beloved fashion icons, and they both married into America’s most famous family. Unfortunately, they never got a chance to so much as meet. And it sounds like John F. Kennedy, Jr., is the man to blame!
According to Elizabeth Beller (author of the biography Once Upon A Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy), JFK, Jr. and Bessette-Kennedy began dating before Jackie Kennedy died of cancer in 1994. Beller claims that “Carolyn became increasingly irked that he wouldn’t introduce her to his mother.” While it’s only speculation on her part, Beller believes that Carolyn’s annoyance over never getting introduced to Jackie is why she and her husband had such a rocky relationship!
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Avoiding public interviews
Ever wonder why people are still so fascinated with Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy? The main reason, arguably, is that she is still an immense mystery after all these years. Of course, it’s no mystery why we know so little about her. As it turns out, this very public figure always avoided giving public interviews!
By all accounts, Bessette-Kennedy lived a very private life. That all changed when she married JFK, Jr: suddenly, she had paparazzi following her everywhere, and there wasn’t much she could do about it. However, she did take control in one very important way: she refused to ever grant any reporter an official public interview. In this way, she maintained a modicum of privacy despite her immense fame. Unfortunately, this meant that she took many secrets with her when she and her beloved husband crashed into a watery grave.
A nasty tabloid reputation
Earlier, we mentioned how Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy refused to grant anyone a public interview. However, that didn’t keep her from constantly appearing in the newspaper. She and her husband were a constant staple of tabloids all throughout the ‘90s. Back when the internet was new, those publications constantly ran stories about Bessette-Kennedy and her husband. Unfortunately, the tabloids controlled her public image, and they made everyone think she was an ungrateful ice queen.
As you might imagine, this was largely due to the fact that she refused interviews and avoided the public eye whenever possible. In her eyes, she was just keeping her head down and trying to replicate the quiet life she had led before marrying into American royalty. But the press, angry that she wouldn’t cooperate for stories, ended up presenting her as a spoiled princess who took her fame and celebrity for granted.
In the years since her death, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy’s friends and family have done their best to rehabilitate the woman’s reputation. For example, JFK Jr. biographer Liz McNeil told the BBC that “The friends we interviewed for our book…all talked about how warm she was. How generous…And she was fiercely protective of the people she loved.”
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Her death was an unnecessary tragedy
The circumstances of John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy’s death remain terribly sad to all of us who remember them. On July 16, 1999, the two of them, along with Carolyn’s sister, boarded a single-engine plane in Newark, New Jersey. It was bound for Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, and JFK Jr. was determined to pilot the plane himself. Unfortunately, the inexperienced pilot lost control, and everyone died after the plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean.
Most people agree that these deaths were completely senseless. After all, the Kennedys had plenty of money, and they could have easily hired the services of an experienced pilot. Instead, JFK, Jr. crashed the plane, which might be chalked up to his lack of experience in the air. Making matters worse, though, is that a flight instructor had volunteered to accompany all of them after warning JFK, Jr. that flying at night can be very tricky.
Obviously, Jr. ended up declining the offer. Little did he know that this would seal the fate of three people, all of whom died in the most unnecessary tragedy of the late ‘90s.