Love to the Grave: How the Widows of Lennon, Cobain and Other Stars Lived

On April 12, 2021, one of the most powerful women in the world became a widow. She and Prince Philip have been legally married for 73 years. It is too early to say how much her husband’s death has affected Elizabeth II, but we already know that she will be moving from Buckingham Palace to Windsor, where the prince will be buried.

The President of the United States was married to Jacqueline Bouvier for just 10 years. And on November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy was shot in Dallas. Jackie retired from the public eye and married billionaire Aristotle Onassis five years later. She dedicated a lot of time and energy to charity, she died in 1994.

Victoria ruled Britain from 1837 to 1901. She married Prince Albert in 1840 and in 1861 he died of typhoid fever. Victoria remained a widow forever: it is said that she never fully recovered. She rarely appeared in public and almost always wore black.

She and Elvis Presley were married from 1967 to 1973, but remained on good terms after the divorce. After the king of rock and roll’s death, Priscilla never remarried, but built an acting career and raised their common daughter, Lisa Maria.

She and Beatles frontman John Lennon married in 1969. The relationship was unequal, but she did not separate. After John was shot on December 8, 1980, Yoko did not remarry, although she had men. She honors the memory of the famous husband and urges the American authorities not to authorize the early release of her killer.

They were only together with Kurt Cobain for a few years: they married in 1992, their daughter Francis was born and in 1994 the leader of Nirvana committed suicide. She did not remarry: she acted in films and did charity work.

With her third husband, Mike Todd, she lived in marriage for only a year: in 1958 he crashed in a plane crash. Liz cried, but not for long: after Todd, she had four other husbands.

René Angelil became the budding singer’s producer in 1981 and in 1994 they married. He died of cancer in 2016. Despite the solid age difference, they still found a common language. Céline remains faithful to her husband and will not remarry.

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