Jackie Kennedy

Wealthy backgrounds and film star looks made for a perfect match which endured to the White House, until tragedy struck America's 'royals'.

Jacqueline was born to a dashing Wall Street banker and his wife, but the depression stripped them of their wealth, and they divorced. Jacqueline adored her father, but his possessiveness and jealousy made his daughter insecure.

Named debutante of the year, Jacqueline attended Vassar, studied in Europe, and finished her education at George Washington University in 1951.

Launched on the path of a socialite, she obtained a suitable job, as the inquiring photographer for the Washington Times-Herald and became engaged to a Wall Street broker.

Then, in 1952, at a dinner party, Jackie met John Fitzgerald Kennedy, handsome congressman and war hero, with an eye on the White House. Warned about his reputation as a philanderer, she replied: "All men are like that". They were married in 1953.

When Kennedy became President eight years later, Jacqueline became first lady. Her proudest legacy was her much-heralded restoration of the White House, the results of which were showcased on television.

She became a patroness of the arts unlike any presidential wife before her, and her choice of couture set the nation’s style.

Jackie forced herself to turn a blind eye to John's affairs, and stood by him through every crisis. Sadly, their first child was stillborn, and their two-day-old son Patrick also died.

But it was her dignity, in the days after her husband's assassination, that forever endeared Jackie to the US nation.

Leaving America in 1968, Jackie stunned the country by marrying Aristotle Onassis, a Greek shipping magnate. 'Jackie O' spent only a few years with Onassis, but his death left her with a large fortune.

In 1994, she died from cancer, and was buried with full honours next to President Kennedy.