What If John Kennedy Jr. Had Looked Like Prince Charles?

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A plain Johns rsum might not have been so different. He was a Kennedy, after all, even if the handsome gene had skipped him. A fishbowl childhood, the college of his choice, the short stint in the Manhattan DAs office these were not beauty prizes but inheritances. He might still have launched George magazine. And, given his mother's wise upbringing, he would probably have shown charm and consideration to those he encountered. "He deserves some degree of credit for endearing himself to the public with not only good looks but good manners," says Orecklin. "He was given a lot, but he never screwed it up." Some of the affection for him was rooted in relief.

But much of the rapture afforded the life of this Kennedy, in his death, rings hollow. American hero? Adopted child of one generation, representative of another? Martyr to a "Kennedy curse"? If the Kennedys were cursed at all, they were blessed twice as much. Charm, looks, wealth and charisma these ran in the Kennedy blood, and if seemingly more of that blood was spilled than in ordinary families, that was because there were so many in the clan, courting their tragedies with large lives. John Kennedy Jr. was the handsome son of a handsome president; both died young and were promptly enveloped in legend. The father was loved because in him, Americans saw someone better and nobler than themselves. Do many really remember or care what he achieved as president? If you cast aside the echoes of the father and they are not insignificant it must and should be admitted that the son was loved primarily because in him, Americans saw someone better-looking than themselves. He had the face of a Kennedy and the grace of a Kennedy, and we adored him for it. We had every right to. But now, when he is gone, we should not pretend that it was John Jr.s life that we loved, when really we loved only his face and a little of his heart.