Ex-secret service agent reveals secrets of Jackie Kennedy - an ‘accomplished flirt’

Ex-secret service agent reveals secrets of Jackie Kennedy - an ‘accomplished flirt’

There was a reason for her signature style choices

By ANTOINETTE KELLY,IrishCentral.com Staff Writer


Published Saturday, October 1, 2011, 8:24 AMUpdated Saturday, October 1, 2011, 8:24 AM




Jackie O wore those over-sized glasses for a reason.

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis had an undefinable allure in life and it's legend will live on forever it seems.

Although her candid interviews with Arthur Schlesinger Jr in 1964 released earlier this month surprised and even shocked many, there's little doubt they will do serious damage to the former First Lady's reputation.

This week a series of new interviews with her closest friends has revealed even further details about Jackie, who passed away in 1994.

Former Secret Service agent Clint Hill, who worked closely with her husband JFK in the White House, spoke to People magazine this week about the woman he remembers.

Speaking of the couple he said: "They relied on each other. They were very, very close."

But in all the time he knew them he very rarely ever saw them show any physical affection in public.

The Kennedy marriage was by no means perfect either, it emerged. While the public was shocked to hear of JFK's infidelities after his death in 1963, his wife was not the last to know.

Laurence Leamer, author of The Kennedy Women called her the "queen of denial," referring to her ability to overlook what she knew to be a fact.

And Kennedy was by no means a retiring bloom when it came to social interactions.

"I don't think I've met a more accomplished flirt," admitted friend John Perry Barlow. "It was the best I'd ever seen because it was based on genuine interest. She could be talking to five or six guys and have each of them think he was the real object of her focus."

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As for her personal style, one of the things that defined her, there was a reason she adopted some signature accoutrements, it turns out.

The large round sun glasses that became her calling card were actually adopted to allow her to watch other people without them knowing, Jackie Style author Pamela Keogh revealed.

And as for those ubiquitous white gloves, "It was to hide her hands," Keogh said. "She was self-conscious because she bit her nails."

It's now 17 years since Jackie died from non-Hodgkins lymphoma, but there's no question the mystique that surrounds her and her husband is undiminished.