Now the 25th anniversary of John F Kennedy Jr.’s death. and Carolyn Bessette approaching next month, DailyMail.com columnist Maureen Callahan’s new book has shed new light on their troubled relationship.
In ‘Don’t Ask: The Kennedys and the Women They Destroyed’Callahan tells how the day the couple died – July 16, 1999 – their marriage was effectively over.
“John had moved out of their marital apartment,” Callahan wrote. ‘[But] the last thing he wanted was for the press to speculate about his marriage.’
And so JFK Jr. stood. on getting Carolyn and her sister Lauren to a family wedding. Off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard he crashed his small private plane, killing them all.
In reality, the press had known for a long time that their relationship was not a happy one – with no evidence more damning than their infamous fight in a New York park on February 25, 1996, just months before their wedding.
The couple infamously fought in a New York park on February 25, 1996, just months before their wedding.
On the morning of the fight, photographer Angie Coqueran was extra vigilant.
Photographer Angie Coqueran captured the psychic altercation and sold the photos to the National Enquirer.
The images shocked the world: JFK Jr. appeared to slap Carolyn, ripping her engagement ring off her finger, leaving Carolyn in tears. Muffled screams can be heard on accompanying video footage.
Now, nearly three decades later, Coqueran DailyMail.com has exclusively provided an in-depth account of the argument.
“The Kennedys were my specialty,” says Coqueran, “I had just bought a new Chevy Blazer and loved driving around Tribeca [in Lower Manhattan] where JFK Jr. and Carolyn shared a loft apartment.
“They liked to eat at Bubby’s [on Hudson Street]and I lived just a bike ride away, so I saw them often and took pictures.”
But on that fateful February morning, Coqueran was extra vigilant. JFK Jr.’s beloved mother Jackie Kennedy-Onassis had passed away in May 1994 and now her belongings were sold at auction by Sotheby’s.
On the morning of the fight, Coqueran had seen the auction list published in the New York Times.
‘I thought [JFK Jr.] was undoubtedly in a very emotional state. He was very close to his mother,” she recalls. “So when I saw him and Carolyn walking and a copy of the Times under his arm, I knew what it said.”
The couple walked from Tribeca to Battery Park with their dog.
The couple walked their dog from Tribeca to Battery Park in Lower Manhattan.
‘John got up and walked away from her to walk the dog. Then I heard screaming,” Coqueran said.
“People always say the fight took place in Washington Square Park, but that wasn’t the case. The park they always went to was Battery, right on the water. The National Enquirer deliberately kept that hidden because not many people knew where to find them for photos.”
Coqueran stood in a public restroom in the park, looked out a window and trained her lens on the couple as they sat on a bench to read the newspaper together.
‘Then it got hot. John got up and walked away from her to walk the dog, disappearing from my view for a few seconds,” she says. “But then I heard screams – from both of them – and I knew I had to take the pictures.”
Coqueran took up another position and watched the explosive fight unfold.
‘Carolyn tried to take something from him – I always assumed it was the dog leash – and he pushed her back several times, as if he was going to hit her. In some shots you see his hand against her face,” she says.
“At one point, when she reached for the belt, he grabbed her hand ring and pulled off her engagement ring. It looked like the ring broke because John looked at the ground and had to pick up two pieces.”
‘It was all very public and it made me feel very uncomfortable and nervous.’ she added. “But eventually they stopped arguing and there was a lot of sitting in silence on the park bench.”
The couple then left the park, at which point Coqueran heard John tell Carolyn, “I don’t even know her… I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“The whole thing was very public and it made me feel very uncomfortable and nervous,” Coqueran says.
“At one point he sat down on the sidewalk outside the park and put his head in his hands,” she recalls.
‘They argued some more and Carolyn let tears roll down her cheeks. They ended up hugging each other,” she added.
“My theory is that the fight started because he was upset about the New York Times mention of his mother,” says Coqueran, “but when young couples get into fights, they tend to everything upwards. Carolyn seemed to be referring to another woman and John tried to send her away.”
“The whole thing took about an hour,” she added. ‘At one point he sat down on the curb outside the park and put his head in his hands. They argued some more and Carolyn let tears roll down her cheeks. Finally they hugged each other.’
Seven months later, on September 21, 1996, the couple married in a private ceremony on Cumberland Island off the coast of Georgia.
“I believe he got married to do damage control to her,” Coqueran said. ‘When he took her ring off, it seemed like he was over the relationship. But after the pictures came out, maybe he felt he had to do it.”