Agree or Disagree: Princess Diana and JFK Jr had a similar level of fame or celebrity

[Anonymous]

I’m an Irish American Catholic in my 40s, so I was in my late teens when they each died. I was aware of Princess Di for my entire life. I had Princess Di and Grace Kelly paper dolls. I knew the iconic photo of JFK Jr saluting at his father’s funeral but I was not aware of JFK Jr as a celebrity in his own right until the Seinfeld episode where Elaine goes to his gym and fantasizes about him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On an international level, Diana was definitely the more famous of the two. Here in the US in the 90s though, I would say she and JFK Jr were on equal footing.

Maybe for like a minute before they both died, after Diana's divorce when she was dating Dodi and no longer a formal member of the BRF. Like for a year or two they may have been treated somewhat similarly by the US tabloids.

But at that point, Diana had been followed closely by people in the US for over a decade, including her marriage, the birth of both her children, her marital troubles, her divorce, her eating disorder and mental health struggles, her charitable work, and finally her post-divorce personal renaissance.

All people knew about JFK Jr. when he died was the tragedy with his dad, the fact that he'd dated a series of actresses before marrying a blonde lady who worked in fashion, he founded a magazine that was not very successful, and he had a great head of hair.

It's not really comparable.

I think there are people in the US who consume BRF news like they are Brits, and there are people in the US that consider the Kennedys to be the American version of the BRF. This was at its peak in the late 80s and 90s. Diana had been a public figure for longer, but JFK Jr was all over American media in the late 80s and 90s: the bar exam failures, the girlfriends, the Sexiest Man Alive title, his relationship with Carolyn, their public spats, the engagement and secret wedding, etc.

But Diana was also all over the news at this time. E.g. her 1989 visit to NYC, where she hugged a hospitalized child with AIDS was front page news on newspapers nationwide. People saw frequently saw coverage of Diana on the nightly news (which was watched by most households).

JFK Jr was a favorite topic of People magazine. That's it.

I’m in my late 40s, so the right age range for this discussion, and I have no recollection of the 1989 visit to the NYC hospital. I knew who Diana was during that time and the major talking points about her and the tabloid stories, but I was not following her every move.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On an international level, Diana was definitely the more famous of the two. Here in the US in the 90s though, I would say she and JFK Jr were on equal footing.

Absolutely false.

Not every American was obsessed with the British royals.

17 million Americans watched the wedding. 16 years later over 33 million Americans watched her funeral.

[Anonymous]

Princess Diana was Micheal Jackson level of famous. Globally known.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:On an international level, Diana was definitely the more famous of the two. Here in the US in the 90s though, I would say she and JFK Jr were on equal footing.

This I agree with.

Ever since those two, there has been no one to replace them with that level of fame and interest.

[Anonymous]

Diana was much more famous. I only heard 2 things about JFK Jr. as an adult when he flunked the bar a few times and when he crashed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m an Irish American Catholic in my 40s, so I was in my late teens when they each died. I was aware of Princess Di for my entire life. I had Princess Di and Grace Kelly paper dolls. I knew the iconic photo of JFK Jr saluting at his father’s funeral but I was not aware of JFK Jr as a celebrity in his own right until the Seinfeld episode where Elaine goes to his gym and fantasizes about him.

Isn’t the fact that the #1 American sitcom at the time had an episode with a character fantasizing about him an indication of the American perspective on his popularity and fame?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm French, and lived in Paris when Lady Di crashed in the tunnel. It was on all news channels, constantly, for days. I was vaguely aware that her personal life had been splashed in the papers for years before that, but I was a kid back then. I had never heard of JFK Jr. until his helicopter accident.

But maybe in this country there's more of an equivalency?

It was a small plane, not a helicopter.

[Anonymous]

Crowds gathered to get a glimpse of Diana when she visited Chicago. No crowds for JFK JR

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Crowds gathered to get a glimpse of Diana when she visited Chicago. No crowds for JFK JR

What visit to Chicago? There definitely are British royal fans that would know this, but I (middle aged American woman) have no idea what you are talking about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On an international level, Diana was definitely the more famous of the two. Here in the US in the 90s though, I would say she and JFK Jr were on equal footing.

Maybe for like a minute before they both died, after Diana's divorce when she was dating Dodi and no longer a formal member of the BRF. Like for a year or two they may have been treated somewhat similarly by the US tabloids.

But at that point, Diana had been followed closely by people in the US for over a decade, including her marriage, the birth of both her children, her marital troubles, her divorce, her eating disorder and mental health struggles, her charitable work, and finally her post-divorce personal renaissance.

All people knew about JFK Jr. when he died was the tragedy with his dad, the fact that he'd dated a series of actresses before marrying a blonde lady who worked in fashion, he founded a magazine that was not very successful, and he had a great head of hair.

It's not really comparable.

I think there are people in the US who consume BRF news like they are Brits, and there are people in the US that consider the Kennedys to be the American version of the BRF. This was at its peak in the late 80s and 90s. Diana had been a public figure for longer, but JFK Jr was all over American media in the late 80s and 90s: the bar exam failures, the girlfriends, the Sexiest Man Alive title, his relationship with Carolyn, their public spats, the engagement and secret wedding, etc.

But Diana was also all over the news at this time. E.g. her 1989 visit to NYC, where she hugged a hospitalized child with AIDS was front page news on newspapers nationwide. People saw frequently saw coverage of Diana on the nightly news (which was watched by most households).

JFK Jr was a favorite topic of People magazine. That's it.

I’m in my late 40s, so the right age range for this discussion, and I have no recollection of the 1989 visit to the NYC hospital. I knew who Diana was during that time and the major talking points about her and the tabloid stories, but I was not following her every move.

No one is saying they were necessarily following her every move. But orders of magnitude more people knew of her, knew about herthean knew of/about JFK Jr.

I also will point out that in 1989 you were, what, 11?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Crowds gathered to get a glimpse of Diana when she visited Chicago. No crowds for JFK JR

What visit to Chicago? There definitely are British royal fans that would know this, but I (middle aged American woman) have no idea what you are talking about.

The question is not: do you remember Diana's visit to Chicago in (checks wiki) 1996? The question is: did Diana and JFK Jr have similar levels of fame/celebrity when they were alive? As the PP noted, wherever she went in the US and throughout the world, Diana drew very large crowds. Her advocacy work was widely noted and admired. She met with heads of state worldwide. She was on the nightly news and in national and local newspapers, as well as in People mag.

I'm not a BRF fan. But I am 5-6 years younger than Diana and JFK Jr would be if they were still alive, so close to their contemporaries, so I remember them and the attention they got. It's honestly laughable to compare them--her fame far outshown him. She was one of the most recognized people in the world and in the US. He was not one of most recognized people in the US, nevermind the world. Most Americans did not know much about him other than that he was JFK's magazine. He was occasional tabloid fodder only.

[Anonymous]

Lol JFK's *son*

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Crowds gathered to get a glimpse of Diana when she visited Chicago. No crowds for JFK JR

What visit to Chicago? There definitely are British royal fans that would know this, but I (middle aged American woman) have no idea what you are talking about.

https://www.northwestern.edu/magazine/summer2016/campuslife/then-the-peoples-princess-diana-chicago-visit-1996.html

[Anonymous]

I would say they were pretty equal in how they were both viewed by the public.

I always thought when they were alive, that if they ever became a real-life couple how nuts pop culture would have went back then.