Jackie Kennedy's 'Biggest Mistake' Revealed

John Carl Warnecke, the architect chosen to design John F. Kennedy's grave and eternal flame, shared intimate details of his decades-long friendship with former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in his posthumous memoir, "Camelot's Architect." The two met in 1962 and developed a deep bond, which Warnecke describes as having a "personal and caring tension."

Warnecke's memoir, completed by his daughter, recounts how his collaboration with Jackie on JFK's grave design led to a close relationship. However, he notes that their romance cooled when he incurred significant debt. He also reflects on Jackie's marriage to Aristotle Onassis in October 1968, shortly after Robert F. Kennedy's assassination.

During a later visit, Jackie confided in Warnecke, expressing that her marriage to Onassis was "the biggest mistake she had ever made." After Onassis's death and Warnecke's divorce, they renewed their social friendship, which he described as feeling like an "exciting secret affair" despite being non-physical.

Warnecke designed the gravesite where Jackie Kennedy was eventually interred in May 1994. He often saw the eternal flame at JFK's grave when crossing Memorial Bridge in Washington.