The late Queen Elizabeth II and Jacqueline (Jackie) Kennedy were said to have had much in common.
The two women both had a passion for horses, had young children in the public eye, and could harness soft diplomacy – though they didn't have "true political power" themselves.
However, their first meeting didn't quite go as smoothly as anticipated, according to Caroline Hallemann, author of new book The Kennedys And The Windsors.
The then-First Lady visited Buckingham Palace with her husband, President John F. Kennedy (JFK), in June 1961, two years before his assassination.
Caroline told People Magazine: "Jackie was very excited to go to Buckingham Palace and thrilled to meet the Queen. But she was just slightly disappointed that the palace wasn't grander."
Jackie, who passed away in 1994, also had a surprising criticism of the late Queen. She thought her hairstyle was "too flat", according to royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith.
However, when she returned to Buckingham Palace the following year after a trip to India and Pakistan, the two women got along much better and chatted extensively about horses.
Jackie also confided in the monarch that she found being constantly in the public eye "exhausting".
© Bettmann ArchiveA very glamorous meeting
Throughout her 70-year reign, the late Queen met hundreds of important world leaders and glamorous figures from all over the world.
From her coronation in 1953 to her death in 2022, aged 96 at Balmoral Castle, she oversaw a changing world and witnessed some incredible historic events.
During their 1961 meeting, JFK and Jackie dazzled British crowds as guests of honour at a lavish state banquet, hosted by the monarch and her husband, Prince Philip.
© Bettmann ArchivePer 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.
While the Queen wore a Hartnell royal blue tulle ball gown, Jackie was seen in a Chez Ninon ice-blue silk evening gown and gloves.
JFK presented the Queen with a photo of himself in a silver Tiffany & Co. frame and signed it: "To Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, with appreciation and highest esteem, John F. Kennedy."
Afterwards, in a birthday note to the Queen, the President thanked her for the hospitality, saying: "We shall always cherish the memory of that delightful evening."
Paying tribute after tragedy
Tragically, John F. Kennedy was assassinated on 22 November, 1963, while riding in a motorcade through Dallas, Texas.
© Bettmann ArchivePrince Philip attended the president's state funeral on 25 November in Washington D.C., walking in the procession from the White House.
According 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."
