Britpop, supermodels, lads and ladettes made 1990s London “swing again.” Across the Atlantic, JFK Jr and Carolyn Bessette defined New York’s social scene. But who was London’s equivalent power couple?
Following tomatoes, cleanliness, and Pilates, Ryan Murphy is to thank for the latest hyper-focus of TikTok taste makers: Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy.
Love Story, the Disney+ show Murphy produced depicting the tumultuous arc of JFK Jr and Carolyn, has amassed 25 million hours of streaming over just 5 episodes, breaking records for its network.
Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, 1997 CREDIT: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/John Matthew Smith
In the series, Kennedy Jr rides his bike, is chased by paparazzi, schmoozes Bessette, and eventually rows with her, to a backdrop of mid-to-late nineties New York.
The Hollywood Reporter calls Manhattan circa 1995 “the height of humanity” and a setting Love Story gets “exactly right.” At the same time, Vanity Fair declared “London Swings! Again!” If so, London must have had a power couple to match?
JFK Jr and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy kiss, 1997 CREDIT: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/John Matthew Smith
“It’s really difficult because not many couples encapsulate that restrained luxury glamour they both effortlessly managed,” says photographer of British icons including Amy Winehouse, John Cooper Clarke and formerly the official photographer for the Arctic Monkeys, Richard Kelly.
“In UK terms I’m stuck between Hugh Grant and Liz Hurley or Jude Law and Sadie Frost.”
British actor Hugh Grant and his girlfriend Elizabeth Hurley,1995.(AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
“I’d have to go with the former due to their paparazzi power as well as their posh sleek aesthetic. I’m not sure, however, that Hurley embodies that restrained low-key, yet high-end approach to fashion that Bessette did (I can’t see her wearing the 1994 Versace dress).
“Jude Law and Sadie Frost were more like an unpolished and chaotic transatlantic version of JFK Jr and Carolyn Bessette, so I have to go with Liz and Hugh.”
Sadie Frost and Jude Law, 1997 CREDIT: FLICKR/Thomas Hank
Former Max Power editor, photographer and general media operator John Sootheran – whose work ranges from shooting Pirelli calendars in their more revealing era (including Gisele Bündchen) to making Katie Price, then Jordan, guest editor and cover star of lads’ mags – says he would “pick Posh n Becks, only because I was at the Man United match where they first met.”
David and Victoria Beckham, 2000 CREDIT: ASSOCIATED PRESS
“I remember Posh and Sporty Spice coming out at half-time onto the pitch, it was March ’97 just a few months before Princess Di died.”
He adds, “I think Posh and Becks were there to fill the void for desperate paparazzi and media, so much of that mind-boggling attention switched to them. Obviously, the manager, Alex Ferguson, hated the distraction for David, so they had to meet surreptitiously, but like JFK Jr they were hounded by the press.”
Princess DI photographed by John Sootheran during his day spent with ‘King of the Paparazzi’ CREDIT: John Sootheran
John continues, “I spent a day with ‘King of the Paparazzi’, Richard Young, in the mid-90s.
“Back then he was bemoaning the fact the new auto-focus camera technology of the time meant that lots of East End barrow boys could suddenly earn big money by doorstepping celebrities and intruding in every aspect of their lives. He blamed their lack of professionalism and etiquette for giving the paparazzi a bad name.”
Richard Young, also known as ‘King of the Paparazzi’ CREDIT: John Sootheran
Along with Richard Young, Dafydd Jones is one of the pre-eminent society photographers of the last 45 years, having snapped the likes of Ghislaine Maxwell, Boris Johnson (a whole collection’s worth), and Donald Trump at various universities, balls and awards shows. “I was in New York until 1996, and returned to London when Vanity Fair announced it was swinging.”
He picks Jade Jagger and Dan MacMillan.
British model and designer Jade Jagger arrives at The Serpentine Gallery’s summer party at the gallery in Kensington Gardens, central London, Wednesday 11, July 2007. (AP Photo/Nathan Strange)
Dafydd Jones’s pick has the blue blood the other couples are missing – the MacMillan he refers to is the Viscount of Ovenden, heir to an earldom and great-grandson of the Etonian prime minister Harold Macmillan.
Of course, JFK Jr wasn’t an aristocrat, given the American constitution forbids it. But the Kennedy political dynasty is widely seen as the closest thing our transatlantic neighbours have to one.
Portrait of Dafydd Jones
On his pick, Dafydd continues, “it’s such a long time ago – I first noticed them when Dan had an exhibition of his photos at the St Martin’s Lane hotel. They were both doing creative things… was Jade designing jewellery? Dan went on to open a gallery.”
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HeadlineWho was London’s JFK Jr and Carolyn Bessette?
Short HeadlineWho was London’s JFK Jr and Carolyn Bessette?
StandfirstThey were one of the most photographed couples in the world. 27 years after their death, society photographers debate who the London equivalent was.
Britpop, supermodels, lads and ladettes made 1990s London “swing again.” Across the Atlantic, JFK Jr and Carolyn Bessette defined New York’s social scene. But who was London’s equivalent power couple?
Following tomatoes, cleanliness, and Pilates, Ryan Murphy is to thank for the latest hyper-focus of TikTok taste makers: Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy.
Love Story, the Disney+ show Murphy produced depicting the tumultuous arc of JFK Jr and Carolyn, has amassed 25 million hours of streaming over just 5 episodes, breaking records for its network.
Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, 1997 CREDIT: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/John Matthew Smith
In the series, Kennedy Jr rides his bike, is chased by paparazzi, schmoozes Bessette, and eventually rows with her, to a backdrop of mid-to-late nineties New York.
The Hollywood Reporter calls Manhattan circa 1995 “the height of humanity” and a setting Love Story gets “exactly right.” At the same time, Vanity Fair declared “London Swings! Again!” If so, London must have had a power couple to match?
JFK Jr and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy kiss, 1997 CREDIT: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/John Matthew Smith
“It’s really difficult because not many couples encapsulate that restrained luxury glamour they both effortlessly managed,” says photographer of British icons including Amy Winehouse, John Cooper Clarke and formerly the official photographer for the Arctic Monkeys, Richard Kelly.
“In UK terms I’m stuck between Hugh Grant and Liz Hurley or Jude Law and Sadie Frost.”
British actor Hugh Grant and his girlfriend Elizabeth Hurley,1995.(AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
“I’d have to go with the former due to their paparazzi power as well as their posh sleek aesthetic. I’m not sure, however, that Hurley embodies that restrained low-key, yet high-end approach to fashion that Bessette did (I can’t see her wearing the 1994 Versace dress).
“Jude Law and Sadie Frost were more like an unpolished and chaotic transatlantic version of JFK Jr and Carolyn Bessette, so I have to go with Liz and Hugh.”
Sadie Frost and Jude Law, 1997 CREDIT: FLICKR/Thomas Hank
Former Max Power editor, photographer and general media operator John Sootheran – whose work ranges from shooting Pirelli calendars in their more revealing era (including Gisele Bündchen) to making Katie Price, then Jordan, guest editor and cover star of lads’ mags – says he would “pick Posh n Becks, only because I was at the Man United match where they first met.”
David and Victoria Beckham, 2000 CREDIT: ASSOCIATED PRESS
“I remember Posh and Sporty Spice coming out at half-time onto the pitch, it was March ’97 just a few months before Princess Di died.”
He adds, “I think Posh and Becks were there to fill the void for desperate paparazzi and media, so much of that mind-boggling attention switched to them. Obviously, the manager, Alex Ferguson, hated the distraction for David, so they had to meet surreptitiously, but like JFK Jr they were hounded by the press.”
Princess DI photographed by John Sootheran during his day spent with ‘King of the Paparazzi’ CREDIT: John Sootheran
John continues, “I spent a day with ‘King of the Paparazzi’, Richard Young, in the mid-90s.
“Back then he was bemoaning the fact the new auto-focus camera technology of the time meant that lots of East End barrow boys could suddenly earn big money by doorstepping celebrities and intruding in every aspect of their lives. He blamed their lack of professionalism and etiquette for giving the paparazzi a bad name.”
Richard Young, also known as ‘King of the Paparazzi’ CREDIT: John Sootheran
Along with Richard Young, Dafydd Jones is one of the pre-eminent society photographers of the last 45 years, having snapped the likes of Ghislaine Maxwell, Boris Johnson (a whole collection’s worth), and Donald Trump at various universities, balls and awards shows. “I was in New York until 1996, and returned to London when Vanity Fair announced it was swinging.”
He picks Jade Jagger and Dan MacMillan.
British model and designer Jade Jagger arrives at The Serpentine Gallery’s summer party at the gallery in Kensington Gardens, central London, Wednesday 11, July 2007. (AP Photo/Nathan Strange)
Dafydd Jones’s pick has the blue blood the other couples are missing – the MacMillan he refers to is the Viscount of Ovenden, heir to an earldom and great-grandson of the Etonian prime minister Harold Macmillan.
Of course, JFK Jr wasn’t an aristocrat, given the American constitution forbids it. But the Kennedy political dynasty is widely seen as the closest thing our transatlantic neighbours have to one.
Portrait of Dafydd Jones
On his pick, Dafydd continues, “it’s such a long time ago – I first noticed them when Dan had an exhibition of his photos at the St Martin’s Lane hotel. They were both doing creative things… was Jade designing jewellery? Dan went on to open a gallery.”
