John F Kennedy Jr feared his own family would tell the world he was secretly gay if he refused to publicly support a cousin charged with rape.

The 'outing' threat – which was entirely baseless and has been described by sources as 'blackmail' – was allegedly issued by Senator Ted Kennedy to pressure his nephew into publicly supporting the family's claims that William Kennedy Smith, then 31, the son of Teddy jfk jand JFK's sister Jean Kennedy Smith, was innocent of the charge.