The new FX and Hulu anthology ‘Love Story‘ brings back one of America’s most talked-about romances: the relationship between John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette.
Married in 1996 and gone by July 1999, their time together lasted barely three years. Yet those who knew them insist those years held enough passion, conflict, devotion, and hope for a lifetime. But it was a relationship they were still trying to understand when it suddenly ended.
A Magnetic Beginning That Quickly Turned Serious
The FX and Hulu anthology ‘Love Story‘ brings back the real-life romance of John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette, a marriage that lasted only from 1996 until their deaths in July 1999 but left a lasting mark on pop culture. The show doesn’t focus on politics. Instead, it tells the story of two people who fell fast, argued often, loved deeply, and were still trying to figure each other out when everything suddenly ended.
In the series, their story begins in 1992 at a Calvin Klein store. Carolyn worked there helping celebrity clients, and designer Calvin Klein chose her to assist John because she was the most energetic salesperson on the floor. She fitted him for suits and gave him her number. He called days later, and friend Robbie Littell later said John became fascinated right away and kept saying he wanted to marry her.
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Their first date almost ruined things. At a gala dinner, Carolyn saw another woman sitting beside him and thought she was his date, so she skipped the after-party and told him she was “meeting people.” A few days later, they met again at a fundraiser and talked privately for over an hour. After that, the connection stuck.
The show then moves to July 1995. During a fishing trip to Martha’s Vineyard, John slipped a diamond-and-sapphire ring on her finger and said fishing was better “with a partner.” Carolyn simply answered, “I’ll think about it,” and took nearly three weeks before saying yes. They later married secretly on Sept. 21, 1996, on Cumberland Island and shared their first dance to Prince’s “Forever in My Life.”
The Unfinished Chapter ‘Love Story’ Leaves Behind
Even before the wedding, problems appeared. Carolyn never met John’s mother, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, before her death in 1994, and the topic of her death caused arguments. She felt the relationship could not be serious without that introduction, while John worried it would make their lives too public. He later admitted he regretted that decision.
After they married, the pressure grew stronger. Carolyn visited the Kennedy family compound but felt uncomfortable when relatives questioned her about current events at dinner. Later, after photographers caught the couple arguing in Central Park, John’s aunt Ethel Kennedy advised her she needed to be “bigger than that” and not react publicly.
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Friends always said their relationship was intense rather than weak. They loved hard and fought hard, but stayed devoted. Paparazzi attention and the illness of John’s cousin, Anthony Radziwill, added stress, so by spring 1999, they began marriage counseling. John told some friends they might split, yet others saw them happy just days later. The show presents this time as a couple trying to fix things, not end them.
In its final part, ‘Love Story‘ shows a relationship still in progress. They argued, made up, and planned ahead, believing they had time. On July 16, 1999, John flew a plane carrying Carolyn and her sister Lauren to Rory Kennedy’s wedding. Carolyn’s mother had once warned him never to fly both daughters together. That night, flying through thick fog near Martha’s Vineyard, he became disoriented, and the plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after 9:40 p.m. John, Carolyn, and Lauren died instantly.
The series ends on the same idea their friends shared: their marriage never truly ended. ‘Love Story‘ shows them not as a perfect fairy-tale couple but as a passionate couple still working things out when their story suddenly stops.
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