Losing a loved one is difficult to cope with. Especially when the whole world is watching.
On June 23, the United Nations will raise awareness of the problems of surviving wives with International Widows' Day. Losing a loved one is difficult to cope with. Especially when the whole world is watching, such as Jackie Kennedy (1929-1994) or more recently Vanessa Bryant (38). The whole world grieved with these women.
A shot that changed the world
November 22, 1963 shocked not only the United States, but the whole world: US President John F. Kennedy slumped in the back seat of an open limousine after the shots. His wife Jackie is sitting next to him. The motorcade races to the nearest hospital. Kennedy is pronounced dead there at 1 p.m. He was only 46 years old.
The images of the funeral service have been burned into the memory to this day. Their son John F. Kennedy Jr. salutes in front of his father's coffin. It is his third birthday. Daughter Caroline is almost six years old. Jackie married the Greek shipowner and billionaire Aristotle Onassis (1906-1975) five years later, which many Americans cannot forgive her to this day. She died on May 19, 1994 at the age of 64. Her son John F. Kennedy Jr. dies five years later in a plane crash.
The tragedy repeats itself
The tragedy of Dallas is repeated five years later. John F. Kennedy's brother Robert F. Kennedy is also assassinated. The democratic senator is seen as a beacon of hope for a more liberal America. On the night of June 4 to 5, 1968, he was shot and killed in the Hotel Ambassador in Los Angeles. He was only 42 years old. In addition to his wife Ethel (92), he has eleven children. In 2014 Ethel was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by the then President Barack Obama (58).
A dream ends suddenly
A few weeks earlier, on April 4, 1968, the black civil rights activist Martin Luther King was shot in Memphis. He was only 39 years old. His famous speech "I have a Dream", which he delivers on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington in 1963, goes down in history. A year later, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his non-violent fight against inequality between blacks and racism. He is survived by his wife Coretta Scott Williams and four children together. His widow continues his struggle and receives honorary degrees from several institutions. On the evening of January 30, 2006, she died while sleeping in a rehabilitation center in Rosarito Beach. She was 78 years old.
The Eternal Widow
On December 8, 1980, ex-Beatle John Lennon was shot from behind. He slumps in the entrance of the apartment house "The Dakota" in Manhattan. The mentally confused David Chapman fires five shots at him. A few moments earlier, he and his wife Yoko Ono (87) got out of the car to go to their apartment. While Lennon is bleeding to death, Chapman sits on the sidewalk and reads the book "The Catcher in the Rye". He is still in prison today, and his sentence is life.
Yoko Ono, who is still held responsible for the separation of the Beatles by many, never married again afterwards. She works as a musician, composer, filmmaker, activist and universal artist.
A life full of drugs
When Elvis Presley closes his eyes forever in his bathroom in Graceland on August 16, 1977, at the age of 42, the whole world sinks into grief. The King of Rock 'n' Roll dies of heart failure, including the consequences of his pill and food addiction. He ended up weighing 150 kilos.
His marriage to Priscilla (75) divorced four years earlier. Even if the marriage lasted only six years, Priscilla Presley dedicated her life to Elvis. In 1982 she opened her former common home, Graceland, to the fans, creating a tourist attraction. She never married again. The daughter Lisa Marie Presley (52) comes from the marriage.
Another music icon died on April 5, 1994: Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain committed suicide at the age of 27. Next to Cobain is the farewell letter with the famous words: "It's better to burn out than to fade away" ("It's better to burn out than to fade"). He struggled with drug problems and depression.
His wife Courtney Love, 55, is later quoted as saying "her husband talked about suicide every day". Love never married again and still works as a singer. The daughter Frances Bean Cobain (27) comes from her marriage to Cobain.
Royal tragedies
Queen Mum (1900-2002) survived her husband by 50 years: King George VI. died of arterial thrombosis on February 6, 1952 at the age of 56. His successor will be his eldest daughter Elizabeth at the age of 26. Queen Elizabeth II has now ruled the United Kingdom for over 68 years. Until her death, Queen Mum was considered the Queen's most valuable advisor.
Her happiness lasted only seven years: Stefano Casiraghi, the second husband of Caroline von Monaco (63), had an accident at only 30 years in a speedboat race on October 3, 1990. Three children, the sons Andrea (36), came from the marriage and Pierre (32) and daughter Charlotte (33). Caroline's mother, Princess Gracia Patricia (1929-1982), died in a car accident eight years earlier.
Caroline has been married to Ernst August Prince of Hanover (66) since January 23, 1999 and has since been called Caroline Princess of Hanover. They have their daughter Princess Alexandra of Hanover (20).
Mourning for an NBA legend
On January 26, 2020, NBA icon Kobe Bryant died at the age of 41 in a helicopter crash, and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna was also killed. The whole world mourns with Vanessa Bryant (38). There are three other children from the marriage.
Seven other inmates are killed in the tragic accident. According to the autopsy report, all victims die from blunt violence. The 41-year-old Bryant therefore suffers severe injuries on almost the entire body. Bryant is considered one of the greatest and best professionals of all time in the NBA. "I loved Kobe – he was like a brother to me," said Michael Jordan (57), perhaps the greatest basketball player in history and Bryant's great role model.