u/Historictea

On Tuesday, February 27, 1996, they attended the Municipal Art Society of New York Benefit held at the 69th Regiment Armory. Caroline and Edwin Schlossberg were also in attendance and presented the Jacqueline Onassis Medal to I. M. Pei. One of the photos was captioned: “John, very protective and attentive to his girlfriend at the benefit gala, was seen holding hands and whispering in her ear."

This event took place just TWO days after their big infamous fight in the park on Sunday, February 25, 1996. The fight was first reported in the New York Daily News on Friday, March 1, 1996—two days after the Municipal Art Society benefit. At the time, they were unaware that the incident had been filmed and would soon be seen by the public.

The rumor that John broke her engagement ring is false, as Carolyn can be seen wearing it in the first photograph.

Photos 1-3 : December 17, 1993: JFK Jr and his mother Jackie Onassis go for a stroll together in New York City.

Photos 4-6: January 13, 1994.

Early in 1994 John learned that his mother was dying of cancer, and nothing mattered the way it had. Jackie had wanted a son who was both a true man and a gentleman, and in his mother's last months he was both. He was strong and he was stoical.

He took Jackie for walks in the park, pushing through the gauntlet of photographers and reporters. He didn't dare even to say out loud that there was a time to live and a time to die and it was his mother's time to die, and she should go gently into that good night.

Robert [Littell] saw the change in his friend after his mother's death: "I mean, he loved his mom. She was a hell of a beacon. Her passing he dealt with from a perspective of, How can I honor that gift? What gift? The gift of love and care and just plain old great mothering. Now he was alone. He was cast out alone. He was America's kid, but he was alone, and it caused him to do further in-depth introspection, which in the end made him better." - Excerpt from Sons of Camelot by Laurence Leamer.

When Jackie died in 1994, John asked his scuba diving friend, Barry Clifford, to come with him to her house on the Vineyard. He didn't want to go alone. When they arrived at her sprawling estate, the one she'd imagined from scratch, they knew something was wrong as soon as they opened the door. They went up to her room and found all her clothes drawers open. Her undergarments were strewn across the bed. A photographer had been inside and had taken pictures of her most private belongings. John was devastated. The next weekend was Memorial Day, which he usually spent at his mom's house, inviting friends. Instead, he went to Hyannis Port (White House by the Sea).

"His mother's death was very, very painful for him. He said things like 'Until both of your parents are dead, you don't really know how alone you are! He lost cousins, he lost parents, and he was incredibly unemotional. Not that he didn't feel it, but externally he was able to hold it together better than anybody I knew. I remember saying, 'John, how the hell do you do it?' And he said, 'You know, I just learned from my family. You just don't wallow in death. You move on. You hold it inside!" - Gary Ginsberg.

I made this post because many people were asking about Carolyn’s relationship to John Perry Barlow’s daughters Leah (b. 1982), Anna (b. 1984), and Amelia (b. 1987) in my previous post. John Perry Barlow was one of John’s closest friends, and his daughters were friendly with both Daryl and Carolyn. They shared their memories for the JFK Jr. biography.

Amelia Barlow: Carolyn was sort of my heroine, role model, mom. My dad would always plan our trips for when John was out of town so that my sisters and I could go live with Carolyn. I would sleep with her—she would always say, “Okay, you're gonna be right here with me." They had that huge bed in the master bedroom. It felt like an ocean because I was so little—I'd never seen a California King bed before. Here's this bed and it's like an entire room. The bathtub was a swimming pool. It was awesome. We would get in bed and she would get up and get a banana in the middle of the night and I would chase her back over to the other side and she'd say, "I've never quite had anybody chase me around a bed before.

I would call her on the phone from Wyoming. Often when I would have these emotional fluctuations I would wanna go to her because she understood. One of my best friends was a bully and I called Carolyn and I was in tears. She said, "When I was your age, I was very similar. I was very sensitive and a lot of people didn't understand me. And I was being bullied." She said, "The best thing I ended up realizing is that I am unique and these girls are gonna stay in this town forever, but I'm going to be able to leave because I am different. So the best thing you could possibly do is tell them that they're little b!tches and walk away." I told them to f**k off, and they stopped bullying me.”

Anna Barlow: When we were older she would take us to Blooming-dale's. I mean, it was just like totally stepping into this miraculous, beautiful New York experience that can't be more exciting as a thirteen-year-old girl. I remember we went to Kiehl's, and I was like, "I want to smell like you." And so she bought me her mixture. It was cucumber scent and something else.... I just loved it. I still sometimes get the cucumber scent from Kiehl's.

She was the first person to pluck my eyebrows. She was like, "Oh, honey, we are getting rid of this." But in a way that was so... If any other person did that, you might be like, "Did I not look okay before?"

We went home with clothes, makeup. I mean, as a young girl living in Wyoming, you're like, "Did I just meet a fairy person?.

Amelia Barlow, shown above with Carolyn, shared:

“It's hard for me to describe Carolyn to you.... When my sisters, Leah and Anna, and I were small, like seven or eight years old, my dad would just send us in a taxi, write the address of the apartment on our hands, and send us to Carolyn. We would order all this Chinese food and then we'd go down onto the street after we had eaten, and we would give the rest of it to the homeless people who she said were our guardian angels.

She had very specific people that lived on particular corners-those people were her protectors. We would give them food and look them in the eye and thank them for keeping us safe in New York. Those people were basically her security detail. And she was extending that web of protection to us girls. She taught us if you connect with them as people, they'll protect you and they'll be your allies when you need it the most.”

John Perry Barlow also shared:

“The homeless guy that made a shelter across the street from their place on North Moore, she always made sure he had food.”

…

Does anyone else think this is a little unusual? How could homeless people really protect her or be her allies?

On November 5, 1997, George magazine hosted a party at Asia de Cuba in New York City to celebrate its second anniversary. Rosemarie Terenzio mentioned this party in her book:

“Back in my room, still seething, I was shoving clothes into my bag when John knocked on the door. I let him in, turned my back, and continued packing. “I just spoke to Carolyn," he said. "She had no idea about the party tonight. Did you forget to tell her?"

I almost shredded the tank top in my hands. The magazine was holding a party that night to mark its second anniversary. Celebrities such as Sheryl Crow, Donald Trump, and Adam Duritz from Counting Crows had been invited to celebrate at the hot new restaurant Asia de Cuba. Carolyn, who had known about it for weeks, was trying to get out of it by playing dumb, and I had no patience for it today.

“Boy, I'm getting it from all angles today. I can't get a break."

“Well, that's what she said," John replied.

“That's bullsh*t," I said, spinning around to face him. "Of course I told her. She just doesn't want to go."

John, suddenly uncomfortable, tried to change the subject.

“Do you really think I'd forget to tell Carolyn about tonight? That's what sucks. After every little thing that I do for this place, you think I would forget that?"..

Carolyn eventually agreed to attend, and both her mother and stepfather were at the party as well. Narciso was invited too.

People Magazine editor Robert Allen was invited and reported on this event:

“JFK Jr was eager to introduce me to his wife, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, at Manhattan's new restaurant Asia de Cuba, where he hosted a party to celebrate the second anniversary of his magazine George.

“Carolyn," he called out, "this is the guy who said you were 6-feet tall in PEOPLE." I explained that it wasn't actually me, but yes, the magazine did include Bessette-Kennedy in its Nov. 3 story Attack of the 6 ft. Women, featuring her with such glamazons as Brooke Shields and Kristen Johnston.

“You can’t imagine how thrilled I was to be included,” said Bessette-Kennedy, confiding that she’s actually 5'10", “but 6 feet in stiletto heels.” Height has been an issue, she told me, “ever since one of John’s relatives [she wouldn’t name names] asked him whether I was 5'6".” The very suggestion stuck in her craw, she said, “until People validated me.”

Bessette-Kennedy also revealed, playfully, that height is an issue with her husband. She recalled a day in October when he had hand surgery at a New York City hospital. “The attendant was taking his vitals,” Carolyn said. “And when she got to his height, she said, ‘You’re 5-what?’ You should have seen the look on his face.” Kennedy, for the record, says he is 6'1" and “191 pounds.”

Date: November 4, 1996.

John Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy made their first official appearance as husband and wife at the Whitney Museum. Kennedy followed in his mother's footsteps by supporting the New York arts, in this case, the highly respected museum on its 30th anniversary on Madison Ave.

Looking radiant without a bit of makeup, Carolyn nevertheless stared coldly at a reporter who asked, simply, who had designed her evening suit, a low-cut black number. "Do you both hate the press now?" Kennedy was asked. After all, Kennedy never asked for his fame, and Carolyn was not prepared for it. With a regiment of paparazzi, stalkerazzi and writerazzi outside their door every day, who could blame them? "No, no. Why do you say that?" Kennedy asked.

The reporter then whined that Carolyn wouldn't speak to her, even about the easy dress question. Kennedy leaned over. "It's more dignified if you try to find out for yourself," he said nicely. "Hint: It's on the back of the invitation."

Okay, she was wearing Prada. But what about the Big Question? "Have you started a family?" Kennedy put both hands out defensively, his body language saying, "Don't go there."

"I had to ask," the reporter said. "You had to ask," he conceded. "How about rumors that you are moving out of Tribeca?" the reporter continued. "No way," Kennedy said, as New York swells swarmed over him like, well, paparazzi. "It's a great place to live. We're definitely staying there. We won't be driven out."