Kathleen "Kick" Cavendish (née Kennedy), Dowager Marchioness of Hartington, and Peter Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, 8th Earl Fitzwilliam.
Kick, a younger sister of President John F. Kennedy, rebelled against her Catholic family's wishes by marrying the Protestant William "Billy" Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington, eldest son and heir of the Duke of Devonshire, in 1944. Tragically, Billy was killed just four months later while fighting to liberate Belgium in the Second World War.
Kick later began a relationship with Peter, another Protestant English nobleman. To make matters worse, Peter was already married, but he planned to divorce so that he could marry Kick. They decided to fly to France to meet Kick's father and ask for his support. This meeting - and their marriage - never took place. Kick, Peter and the flight crew were killed when their plane came down in a storm on 13 May 1948. Kick was just 28 years old while Peter was only 37.
The Kennedy and Wentworth-Fitzwilliam families did all they could to hide the nature of Kick and Peter's relationship, including destroying any correspondence between them, but photos like this survive as a testimony to their love.
This photo is from the collection of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.
