Princess Diana's Ex-Secretary Reveals Bombshell Details About Her ‘Flirtatious’ Meeting With JFK Jr.
New details shed light on Princess Diana's secret meeting with JFK Jr., where the pair reportedly shared instant chemistry.
What happens when Britain’s "People’s Princess" meets America’s royalty? Decades later, Princess Diana's former private secretary is shedding new light on what really happened during the private meeting. Patrick Jephson opened up about what actually went down during her secret 1995 meeting with John F. Kennedy Jr. — revealing that the atmosphere was more than a little charged.
The under-the-radar encounter took place in New York’s Carlyle Hotel, where Kennedy’s main agenda was to convince Diana to grace the cover of his new magazine, 'George'. The meeting was not supposed to attract attention. In fact, it was arranged so quietly that Jephson later described it as a "cloak-and-dagger" operation.
Jephson revealed to PEOPLE, “I sensed a vulnerability in him. When I met him, he was looking for reassurance, which is normal. He was respectful to her. She put him at his ease. They had a jolly social chat.” If JFK Jr. was looking forward to the meeting, Diana had her own reasons to be curious. By then, he was not just a member of America's most famous political family; he was also PEOPLE's Sexiest Man Alive and one of the country's most sought-after bachelors. “There was anticipation on both sides,” the former secretary added.
And yes, there was reportedly a little spark in the room. “It was a little bit flirtatious, as she would have been with any man. But because he was who he was, that gave it a slight extra sparkle,” Jephson described.
The meeting may have gone well, but it wasn't enough to win Diana over. Taking Jephson's advice, she politely turned down the cover offer, feeling the magazine was still too new to lend her star power to. However, she did leave the door open, suggesting she might reconsider if George made it to its 50th or 100th issue down the line.
The story between Diana and JFK Jr. did not end with that secret meeting. In fact, the Princess later reached out to Kennedy and his wife, Carolyn Bessette, after seeing the intense tabloid attention surrounding them.
In her book, The Kennedys and the Windsors: The Story of Two Dynasties, One Born, One Made, author Caroline Hallemann reveals that Princess Diana reached out to the couple in February 1997. Sympathizing with the intense media scrutiny they faced, Diana wrote, “I hope the media are leaving both you and Carolyn alone. I know how difficult it is, but believe it or not, the worst paparazzi are here in Europe!” Tragically, Diana died in a car crash in Paris just months later, an event that intensified global scrutiny of paparazzi culture and media intrusion.
