John F. Kennedy Jr. Resisted Calling William and Harry

Carolyn Bessette Kennedy walking with John F. Kennedy Jr. in NYC; Prince Harry and Prince William wiping their eyes after Princess Diana's death — (Image credit: Getty Images)

John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy are back in the news after the worldwide popularity of Ryan Murphy’s hit show Love Story. The renewed attention has also highlighted the couple’s ties to the Royal Family—and Princess Diana’s death is said to have greatly “rattled” Carolyn. In the book Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, author Elizabeth Beller shared that Carolyn was so impacted by Diana’s tragic 1997 car crash that she implored her husband to reach out to Prince William and Prince Harry.

In the book, Beller wrote (via Hello!) that Bessette-Kennedy “tried to get John to call Princes William and Harry to give his condolences when it came out that Diana had hoped for her sons to emulate John's modesty in the face of media obsession.”

While Carolyn, who was concerned about the relentless press attention she was facing herself, thought it would be the right move, the author writes that John resisted calling “as he didn't know them and thought that their situations greatly differed.”

John F. Kennedy Jr. holding an oar on a beach — John F. Kennedy Jr. (left) is pictured boating with friends days before Princess Diana's August 1997 death.

Prince William and Prince Harry at their mother's funeral — Prince William and Prince Harry are pictured at their mother's funeral in September 1997.

John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy walking in a tux and black dress — John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy are pictured in May 1997.

JFK Jr. had met Princess Diana “once or twice,” including a meeting at the Carlyle hotel in New York when he tried to convince her to be on the cover of his magazine, George. But Beller wrote that even though John “was upset” and “was aware of the fact” that he was experiencing some of the same troubles as Diana with the paparazzi, he didn’t want to get involved with Harry and William.

The author wrote that John “was, by all accounts, a lovely, gracious person, but maybe that moment was too difficult for him to be able to reach out and say something to someone who's just lost their parent in a very public and dramatic way.”

As for Carolyn, she found the similarities between her life and Diana’s to be troubling.

In the documentary American Prince, Bessette-Kennedy’s friend Carole Radziwill said, “I mean, Princess Diana, she was our age, pretty much. The underlying way in which she died, which was being literally hounded to death by paparazzi. That lesson was definitely not lost on Carolyn.”

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Kristin Contino is Marie Claire's Senior Royal and Celebrity editor. She's been covering royalty since 2018—including major moments such as the Platinum Jubilee, Queen Elizabeth II’s death and King Charles III's coronation—and places a particular focus on the British Royal Family's style and what it means.

Prior to working at Marie Claire, she wrote about celebrity and royal fashion at Page Six Style and covered royalty from around the world as chief reporter at Royal Central. Kristin has provided expert commentary for outlets including the BBC, Sky News, US Weekly, the Today Show and many others.

Kristin is also the published author of two novels, “The Legacy of Us” and “A House Full of Windsor.” She's passionate about travel, history, horses, and learning everything she can about her favorite city in the world, London.