JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette were working on their marriage and planning a family before their deaths

In March 1998 John F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife, Carolyn Bessetteattended the wedding of friends Betsy Reisinger And Kenan Siegel in Miami. Photos from the event show the couple in a tight embrace, Bessette’s arms around Kennedy’s neck, her head tilted back as she laughs carefree.

“Carolyn and John were deeply in love and in love with life,” Betsy recalls in the new book Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedywritten by Elizabeth Beller“That’s how I remember her.”

Just sixteen months later, Bessette and Kennedy died tragically when the single-engine plane Kennedy was piloting crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., on July 16, 1999. (Kennedy, 38, Bessette, 33, and her sister, Lauren34, died instantly.)

Much has been said about the couple; the romance between the charming and handsome son of the former president John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jackieand the stunning and chic PR agent for Calvin Klein captivated the nation like no other before or after her.

Despite reports that the couple – who married in 1996 – were on the verge of splitting up before his untimely death, new revelations tell a different, more nuanced story of their complicated, passionate and enduring relationship. They were in therapy together and talked about starting a family.

“Towards the end of their lives they had succeeded in achieving such a rapprochement,” The day John died author Christopher Andersen Shares of the latest issue of We weekly“The frictions that existed were overcome.”

Drawn together

Kennedy and Bessette met in 1992 when the blonde Boston University graduate was working in sales at the Calvin Klein flagship store in Manhattan. The Real Housewives of New York City Alum) Carole Radziwill — who was married to Kennedy’s deceased cousin, Anthony – recalled in an A&E special in 2016 that the connection between Kennedy and Bessette was undeniable.

“I’ve met some of John’s previous girlfriends, but when he introduced us to Carolyn, I knew she was the one,” she said. “He was really into her… There was instant chemistry.”

According to Beller, during the early days of their romance, the couple went out to dinner, traveled to Kennedy’s summer home on Long Island and hung out in Central Park, where they played touch football with Kennedy’s friends from Brown University.

“(Carolyn) stayed on the sidelines with John’s German Shepherd, Sam … calling out the plays and teasing everyone mercilessly and laughing all the while. John loved it,” said Kennedy’s college friend Richard Wiese he said in “Once Upon a Time”.

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Andersen says Bessette was “very cool, very smart (and) very intoxicating.” Historian Steve Gillonwho wrote America’s Reluctant Prince: The Life of John F. Kennedy Jr. and was a former good friend of Kennedy’s, adding that she “could challenge him intellectually. Carolyn found him and then she made him work for her. I think that’s one of the reasons he fell in love with her.”

Kennedy – one of the world’s most eligible bachelors – proposed to her on July 4, 1995. Bessette reportedly made him wait three weeks before saying “yes.” They tied the knot in an intimate ceremony in front of just 40 guests at a small church on Cumberland Island in Georgia.

ups and downs

Their marriage had its ups and downs. “There were a lot of problems,” says Gillon. Bessette hated being pushed into the spotlight and chased by the paparazzi, and she resented Kennedy for it.

“John had grown up with this media exposure his whole life; it didn’t bother him,” explains Gillon. “But Carolyn was terrified. She became more and more withdrawn.”

They argued, sometimes publicly. (Photos of their argument in Washington Square Park in New York City made headlines in 1996.)

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“They were both very nervous and I think they had a hot temper,” says Andersen. (Gillon recalls an argument the two had in the kitchen of their Tribeca loft over a letter Kennedy had received from his boss at George, his political magazine. Bessette “attacked” Kennedy for not standing up for himself more.)

“We witnessed several arguments they had in public,” Andersen adds, “but by and large, people thought Carolyn was worth it.”

Working it out

There was a turning point near the end. Beller revealed that Kennedy and Bessette had begun couples counseling a few months before her death. The author also refutes reports that the couple argued in the hours before flying to his cousin Rory’s wedding because Bessette had postponed the trip to get a pedicure.

“An eyewitness report suggests that she left there at 5 p.m.,” writes Beller. J. Randy Taraborelli‘s book The Kennedy heirsIn his book “The Wedding,” the author writes that Bessette initially refused, but changed her mind a few days later because she knew how important the wedding was to her husband.

They also talked about children. “(John) even had a name picked out,” Andersen says. “(Whether) it was a boy or a girl, they wanted to name the child Flynn.” Bessette changed her mind after having second thoughts about bringing a baby into the world given the media attention they were attracting.

“She was doing much better in the last weeks of their marriage,” Andersen says. “John was meeting Carolyn halfway, and she was finally meeting him halfway.”

Gillon says he believes Kennedy and Bessette were in love and would have made it in the long run if they had the chance. He says Us A former doctor of Kennedy’s recently told him that he caught Kennedy and Bessette kissing in his office a few weeks before the crash.

“He said, ‘John, get a room!'” Gillon recalls with a laugh. “I think that’s a pretty good sign that they were still very attracted to each other.”

Things were looking up. “Carolyn had found a way to deal with all the attention,” Andersen says. “They had found a way.” Kennedy (who eventually decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and go into politics – “that was his calling,” Gillon says) was hopeful, Andersen adds. “A few days before he died, John said, ‘I’m happy with my life now.'”

For more information on Kennedy and Bessette, watch the video above, and check out the latest issue of We weeklynow at the kiosk.

With reporting by Christina Garibaldi and Andrea Simpson