Prince Philip shared a quiet moment with John F. Kennedy Jr. in the days after his father's assassination. An anecdote about the Duke of Edinburgh and the nearly three-year-old son of the 35th president of the United States was shared by author Paul Brandus following the death of Queen Elizabeth's husband in 2021.
"The weekend of the Kennedy assassination, he flew to Washington for the funeral. At the White House on Sunday, Nov. 24, 1963, Jacqueline Kennedy was looking for John Jr. and opened the door to his playroom," Paul posted on X.
"There she found the Prince sprawled on the floor, playing and laughing with the murdered president's son," Paul continued. "Days from his 3d birthday, John had said earlier that he "didn't have anybody to play with" (also: "where's Daddy?") and her Majesty's husband decided that he would entertain the boy. RIP."
The late Duke attended the president's state funeral on November 25, 1963 in Washington, D.C. and walked in the procession from the White House. John Jr. famously saluted his father’s flag-draped casket on the day of the funeral, which was held on his third birthday.
© Abbie Rowe/PhotoQuest/Getty ImagesAccording to the book Dear Mrs. Kennedy: The World Shares Its Grief, Letters November 1963, the Queen expressed her "heartfelt" sympathy to Jackie following the assassination of her husband. "I am so deeply distressed to learn of the tragic death of President Kennedy," Queen Elizabeth penned. "My husband joins me in sending our heartfelt and sincere sympathy to you and to your family."
The Queen Mother also sent a telegram to the president's widow, which read: "I am so deeply shocked and grieved to hear of the death of President Kennedy[.] My thoughts and prayers are much with you in this moment of great sorrow."
© Bettmann ArchiveQueen Elizabeth paid tribute to the late president two years after his death as she inaugurated the JFK Memorial at Runnymede, where the Magna Carta was sealed. The ceremony in 1965 was attended by Jackie and her two kids, Caroline and John Jr. It was there, that cameras captured dad of four Prince Philip sweetly holding John Jr.'s hand.
© Getty ImagesIn remarks at the ceremony, Queen Elizabeth said (via PEOPLE): "The unprecedented intensity of that wave of grief, mixed with something akin to despair, which swept over our people at the news of President Kennedy’s assassination, was a measure of the extent to which we recognized what he had already accomplished, and of the high hopes that rode with him in a future that was not to be."
JFK and his wife had met with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip during his presidency. The royal couple held a dinner in honor of the president and first lady in 1961. Per the White House Historical Association, it marked the second time in the 20th century that an American president had dined at Buckingham Palace - the first was Woodrow Wilson in 1918.
The first lady also enjoyed lunch with the Queen in 1962, after which Jackie told reporters: "So kind to have me there. I don't think I should say anything about it except [for] how grateful I am and how charming she was."
Years before becoming first lady, Jackie saw Queen Elizabeth while covering her 1953 coronation for the Washington Times-Herald, where she worked.
