Who was Ethel Kennedy – and was she really mean to Carolyn Bessette?
The Kennedy family matriarch and RFK’s widow, who raised 11 children, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama for her public service
Despite Ethel’s initial cold treatment of Bessette, the Kennedy family matriarch later warmed to her and was even protective of her, especially after the couple’s highly publicised fight in a New York City park, according to J. Randy Taraborrelli’s book The Kennedy Heirs. Ethel even reportedly summoned Bessette to her home in Virginia and gave her advice on fitting in with the Kennedys.
Here’s everything you need to know about Ethel Kennedy, portrayed by actress Jessica Harper on the show.
She and RFK were married for 18 years
Ethel Kennedy (née Skakel) was born in Chicago in April 1928. Both her parents – father George Skakel, a coal magnate, and mother Ann Brannack – died in 1955 in a plane crash, the same fate that would befall JFK Jr. and Bessette 44 years later.
The second youngest of seven siblings, Ethel attended Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart in New York City, where RFK’s sister, Jean, was her roommate.
Ethel met RFK during a ski trip in Canada. He had briefly dated her older sister Patricia – after they split, he started a relationship with Ethel.
The couple wed in June 1950 and were together for 18 years, welcoming 10 kids, until his assassination in June 1968 in front of Ethel who was pregnant with their 11th child, Rory, at the time.