Carolyn Bessette y John John Kenneyson of the President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, died in a plane crash on July 16, 1999. 25 years after the terrible event, we spoke with the French writer Stéphanie des Hortswho has just published his new book: Carolyn and John (2024, Albin Michel). In the biography, the writer breaks down the love story of the most media-friendly couple of the 90s.
It all ended on a cold summer night. The fog that ruled the coast stretched thousands of miles into the Atlantic Ocean. Without the moon and stars as a guide on the horizon, it was not a flight conducive to John John Kennedy playing at piloting a Piper Saratoga II. Kennedy’s lack of experience as a pilot and the poor weather conditions combined in a Molotov cocktail with fatal consequences: the aircraft they were travelling in collided at a speed of 175 knots with the Atlantic and Lauren, Carolyn and John died instantly on July 16, 1999. A quarter of a century after the tragic accident, the memory of its protagonists still lives on. If Carolyn’s minimalist style is trending on TikTok and Instagram, John has gone down in history as the epitome of the tragic fate of his family, the Kennedys.
“25 years after the death of Carolyn and John, the legend and the myth remain, which is to say, a certain eternity. Carolyn’s legend goes hand in hand with her unique style, now known as the quiet luxury style, which is very fashionable. As for John, he is forever associated with her, and so this image of a doomed couple endures. But John is also the Kennedys, this incredible American family. The Kennedys are a bit like the royal family of the United States, and I have to admit that I am fascinated by that.“, the French writer tells us Stéphanie des Hortswhich has just been launched Carloyn and Johna novel published in French and not yet translated into Spanish that tells the love story with a tragic ending of John John Kennedy and Carolyn Bessette.
Beyond recalling the fateful accident of the cursed marriage, des Horts uncovers the finer details of the enviable life – at least outwardly – of John John Kennedy and Carolyn Bessette. But what was behind that couple? Were they really on the verge of divorce when they died? Was the most elegant woman in the United States a drug addict? Stéphanie des Horts, who boasts of rereading newspapers and expressing them with a certain wit through literature, assures that Carolyn took refuge in cocaine from the paparazzi and the crisis that, at that time, dominated their relationship: “The problem was that her marriage was going badly, the paparazzi harassed her and cocaine made her paranoid: it was a vicious circle!“.
Drugs were just an escape for Carolyn, who, while fleeing the limelight and her complicated relationship with John, felt like a caged animal in a dream life. Before her death, her idyllic wedding on an island in Cumberland (1996, Georgia), where barely 40 guests gathered in a church without electricity, had become a distant memory, which had little or nothing to do with the reality that dominated her marriage.Yes, they were close to divorce, but there is no way of knowing now if they would have divorced in the end. I have met many people who knew them and witnessed their crazy arguments. John loved Carolyn too much and Carolyn was lost in her paranoia.“, the writer assures us.
Carolyn Bessette, daughter of a school principal and an interior architect from White Plains, became a favourite of the Calvin Klein brand, where she started working as a saleswoman in Boston. Later, her already established career in the fashion world took her to work in New York with the most demanding and wealthy clients, from Kennedy to Donald Trump. However, before she died in that plane crash in 1999, John John Kennedy’s wife was no longer working, she only focused on dodging the paparazzi to whom she did not give even a shy smile.
Carolyn was not only a visionary in the fashion industry. The death of Diana, Princess of Wales (1997) was a shock for her. So much so that she believed her future was doomed to be the same as that of the iconic Lady Di. Unfortunately, she was not wrong.I thought she would be next. And that’s what happened. She died much younger than Diana, and like her, she became a legend, but what a waste!“, comments Des Horts.
25 years after the death of ‘the princes of America’ it is difficult to differentiate what belongs to myth and what resides as the fruit of truth in history books.I tell the truth and I bring it to life. I love legends and I love telling stories.“, says Des Horts. Reluctant to include in her book any data that does not resemble reality, the author of Carolyn et John concludes: “It is one of the most beautiful and sad stories I know. And yes, I believe in the Kennedy curse.“.
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