A new biography is taking a deep dive into the fascinating life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy and examining her relationship with John F. Kennedy Jr. prior to their tragic deaths.
Sitting down with ET’s Nischelle Turner to discuss her book, Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, author Elizabeth Beller offers up new insight on the couple’s highly-publicized marriage and the effect it had on Bessette-Kennedy — a previously unknown publicist.
Bessette-Kennedy and JFK Jr. met in 1992 while she was working for Calvin Klein in New York City after being discovered by a traveling sales coordinator at one of the brand’s stores in Massachusetts, according to a July 1999 obituary from The New York Times.
Beller says that at the start of their relationship — which saw JFK Jr. working as a lawyer in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office — they were not much different than any other couple.
John F. Kennedy Jr. and wife Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy at a gala in March 1999 – Arnaldo Magnani/Liaison
“The early years were kind of not that unusual for two people meeting in New York City and juggling careers. Carolyn was only 26 years old when she was at Calvin Klein. She had a real community of friends and was busy with work,” Beller shares of the late daughter-in-law of John F. Kennedy.
She adds, “[Carolyn] was one of these people, especially, you know, new to New York City, who really liked to take advantage of New York to the utmost.”
Beller says Bessette-Kennedy — who ultimately began dating Kennedy Jr. in 1994 — had a zest for life outside of her relationship and would spend her time with friends doing everything from sightseeing to visiting museums and checking out plays. Her life flipped completely upside down, however, when she went public with Kennedy Jr. and became a tabloid target, photographed and written about at all hours of the day.
For a charismatic and social creature like the Calvin Klein publicist, it was a tough transition and one that was only elevated by the heightened expectations around the Kennedy family. While there are many examples of celebrities gaining notoriety seemingly overnight, few are met with such critique for not following a set system of ideals on how to look, dress or act.
“That life that she had before, she had a real sense of freedom. She loved to be out and about. She just really loved to be around her friends,” Beller tells ET. “She was a huge caretaker and so I think that the fact that the press started to wait outside for her, it just really killed a lot of her joy. She saw fame as the thief of joy, especially when she really got into it, and there was no way to know that they would be under that much duress by the paparazzi.”
Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy in New York City in July 1997 – Lawrence Schwartzwald/Sygma via Getty Images
Bessette-Kennedy went from private citizen in a city of millions to having public disputes with her partner photographed, videotaped and slapped on the front page of publications around the world and shared on broadcast news. For that reason, Beller says JFK Jr. was cautious — at least at the start of his relationship with Bessette-Kennedy — as he knew what could become of her life.
“What was hard for him was the knowledge. For him, is that when she was with him, they weren’t as nice,” she says of the paparazzi photographers who harassed them nonstop. “They would call her names to specifically upset her.”
Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy and John F. Kennedy Jr. at the Municipal Art Gala in October 1998 – Richard Corkery/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images
Despite the media phenomenon they became, the couple did their best to live their lives in private — even managing to tie the knot miles away from their life in New York. The pair wed on Sept. 21, 1996 — two years after they first began dating — in a small ceremony on a remote island in Georgia with Kennedy Jr.’s sister — Caroline Kennedy — serving as matron of honor.
Even after their 1996 wedding, however, Beller says Bessette-Kennedy was under extreme societal pressure — which bled into her own mindset — to become a Kennedy family member in the way that the public expected her to, complete with a physical transformation she otherwise may not have gone through with.
“I think it took her a while to get comfortable. I think she very much did not want to disappoint John,” Beller says. “She kind of felt like, ‘Oh, I’m not good, let me see what way I can try to be, you know, more like what Americans think a Kennedy should be.”
Bessette-Kennedy did everything from losing weight, lightening her hair and flipping her eyebrows to fall more in line with what she believed the public’s perception of a Kennedy should be.
“It’s this pressure to conform. Even though I don’t think John was putting that pressure on her, and certainly not the Kennedys, I think it was just she was thinking, ‘What can I do?’ I think she was surprised and kind of hurt by how quite odious the tabloids were to her,” Beller adds.
Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy at a gala in 1999 – Joe Vericker/Getty Images
Those odious headlines included accusing Bessette-Kennedy of having a drug problem — which Beller says she “absolutely did not have” — to being ridiculed for her looks and clothes. Even in death, the author says Bessette-Kennedy was not released from the cruelty of some publications who blamed her for the horrific accident that claimed her life.
On July 16, 1999, Bessette-Kennedy and her older sister, Lauren Bessette, were flying in a light plane Kennedy Jr. was piloting when the vessel crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the western coast of Martha’s Vineyard. All three were killed in the crash and the National Transportation Safety Board later ruled that the haze and darkness were contributing factors.
In the days, months and years that have followed, tabloids and other publications have alleged that Bessette-Kennedy caused the group to board their plane later than they were supposed to as she was shopping and getting her nails done.
Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy on the cover of ‘Vanity Fair’s September 1999 issue after her death – Getty Images
“She certainly was vilified,” says Beller of Bessette-Kennedy being blamed for the crash. She adds that it was another person publicly stating they believed Bessette-Kennedy “picked a fight” with her husband on the plane that partially inspired her to write the book.
As the world approaches the 25th anniversary of their deaths, Beller says she believes Bessette-Kennedy and Kennedy Jr. would have welcomed a few kids of their own, as they were both lovers of children, especially Bessette-Kennedy — an education major in college.
“I think they would have been great parents,” she shares, adding that she also believes Kennedy Jr. would have inevitably found himself in public office as he and his wife figured out how to meaningfully interact with the attention while focusing on their pursuit of change.
“I think that they would have both matured and found a way to sort of keep their reserve,” Beller adds. “And find a way to navigate social media in a way that was not just a way that they were comfortable living with, but I think that was helpful for others.”
Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy hits shelves on May 21.
RELATED CONTENT: