JFK Jr. And Princess Diana's Secret Meeting Wasn't As Juicy As You Might Think

John F. Kennedy Jr. and Princess Diana had a secret meeting back in 1995 that sparked all kinds of rumors. The two did their best to avoid paparazzi at the time, coming up with an elaborate plan to ensure that their meeting stayed under wraps, according to People magazine. The meeting place was set at the Carlyle Hotel in New York City, where Lady Di had been staying, and JFK Jr. showed up to her royal suite where they chatted for about 90 minutes (per Vogue). "I remember him saying, 'There's no way someone is not going to leak it. There's going to be paparazzi everywhere,'" Kennedy's executive assistant RoseMarie Terenzio who accompanied him to the meeting said in her book, "Fairy Tale Interrupted." "Someone suggested he go in disguise and I said, 'That's ridiculous. You're not doing that!'" she added. Luckily, Kennedy and Diana were able to pull off the meeting, without the paparazzi catching on.

At the time, Diana had been separated from a then-Prince Charles, with whom she shared two young boys. Although Kennedy wasn't married, he was in a serious relationship with Carolyn Bessette — the two wed in 1996. It's easy to speculate about what happened behind closed doors between Kennedy and the then-Princess of Wales, and while affair rumors have been at the top of the list, the two actually met for a very different reason.

In a 2005 book written by Simone Simmons, Princess Diana and John F. Kennedy Jr. were accused of having a "passionate fling" during their secret meeting in the Big Apple, according to NBC News. On the inside pages of the book, Simmons claims that Diana described the affair as "a moment of pure lust. According to the author, Diana admitted, "We started talking, one thing led to another — and we ended up in bed together. It was pure chemistry." 

And while people close to Diana have called the rumors of the affair complete rubbish, we actually know the real reason that JFK Jr. scheduled the meeting in the first place — he wanted to personally ask Diana if she would be a part of his magazine, "George." According to Esquire, Kennedy had all kinds of ideas for the publication, including having Madonna on the cover dressed up as his mom, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Madonna said no. And when it came to Diana being featured on the cover of the mag, well, she wasn't too keen on the idea, either. "He wanted to do a respectful piece," RoseMarie Terenzio explained to People. Nevertheless, Diana didn't go for it. "She wrote John a note that said, 'Thank you so much, but not right now,'" Terenzio recalled.

Although Princess Diana turned John F. Kennedy Jr. down on his magazine cover offer, rumor has it that she did make quite the impression on him — so much so, that he talked to his colleagues at "George" about her. When "George" magazine creative director Matt Berman penned his own memoir, he quoted Kennedy as saying that Diana had a "great pair of legs." As for why Diana may have turned Kennedy down, we can only venture to guess. Perhaps coming out of a high profile relationship that was headed for a divorce, Diana didn't want any added media attention. 

Of course, Diana's "Panorama" interview with the BBC aired a few months later — for which she faced a great deal of scrutiny. The controversial interview with Martin Bashir put Diana's marriage front and center, with the princess discussing her then-husband's affair with Camilla Parker Bowles as well as her own marital infidelity. While it's unclear what Kennedy had planned for the inside pages of his Diana cover story, it seems the people's princess wasn't feeling like it was the best move for her. 

Less than two years later, Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris — and Kennedy had an interesting response.

When news broke that Princess Diana had been killed, "George"'s executive editor Elizabeth Mitchell phoned John F. Kennedy Jr. straight away. "I remember calling him at home and saying, 'We're going to have to do something.' And he said, 'Yeah, OK, we'll talk about it.' So I called a meeting to discuss it. He just didn't come — he wasn't showing up on time, which he normally would never do. We kept delaying, and finally he came in and said, 'I can't do it right now, I need to clean my office,'" Mitchell recalled, according to the Daily Mail. "It was obvious he was having an emotional response to the tragedy and finding it difficult. He kept saying, 'I don't see why this needs to be a story.' In the end, we did this incredible photo essay of the mourning going on in London," she added.

Meanwhile, Diana's death caused Kennedy's wife, Carolyn Bessette, to go into somewhat of a panic. She knew just how famous her husband was at the time and was really worried that something similar would happen to him. "Carolyn was horrified by Diana's death. She worried about her children and how they'd grow up without their mom," RoseMarie Terenzio, per People. Two years after Diana's tragic death, Kennedy died when the plane he was piloting crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. His wife was also killed in the accident.