Carolyn Bessette’s Sibling ‘Disgusted’ After Being Told JFK Jr.’s Family Couldn’t Eulogize ‘Non-Kennedys’ After Her Death
Ryan Murphy’s Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette has brought the Kennedy family and the immediate aftermath of the death of John F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife, Carolyn Bessette, back into the conversation. And one of the things people are especially interested in is what happened to the families after the tragic accident. Especially the Bessette family, who haven’t remained in the spotlight.
Now a new biography is exploring what exactly went on between the two families as they prepared to bury John, Carolyn, and her sister Lauren. RFK, Jr.: The Fall and Rise by Isabel Vincent describes the fight between the families after the crash and how it was finally solved. The book is partly based on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s personal diaries, which Vincent acquired through an unnamed source after the 2012 suicide of RFK Jr.’s second wife, Mary Richardson Kennedy.
“In the diary, there’s a whole standoff between Ed Schlossberg [the husband of John’s sister, Caroline Kennedy] and Ann Freeman [mom of three daughters, Carolyn, Lauren and Lisa Bessette],” Vincent told People. “And Ann wants her daughters to be buried in Connecticut.”
The family reportedly wanted to bury Caroly in the Kennedy family plot in Brookline, Mass. But since only Kennedys can be buried there, that would have meant Lauren and Carolyn would be buried separately, which their family did not want.
“One of the ways that Bobby does come out really well is that he’s very sympathetic to Ann Freeman,” the author says. “She’s just lost two daughters.”
Reportedly, there was a meeting and conference call to discuss burial plans. ”The families decided Ted Kennedy would eulogize John Jr. and that Hamilton South, a good friend of Carolyn, would do her eulogy,” Vincent wrote. “When [Carolyn and Lauren’s sister] Lisa Bessette suggested that [RFK Jr.] should eulogize the couple together since he had known them both very well, Schlossberg shot down the idea, even though [RFK Jr.] had accepted to do it.”
Vincent says RFK Jr. wrote in his diary that Schlossberg told Lisa, “Kennedys do not eulogize non-Kennedys.”
“Lisa, disgusted by Schlossberg’s reaction, asked him if he made up the rules on the spot and slammed down the phone,” Vincent also wrote. She explained to people that Schlossberg “does not come across well in Bobby’s eyes.”
Eventually, the families agreed to a burial at sea where the ashes of all three were scattered into the Atlantic Ocean, not far from the crash site.
RFK Jr. did speak at a memorial in Connecticut for John, Carolyn and Lauren. “What I remember from that was his beautiful description of the burial at sea,” Vincent said. “And he describes the remains being in three blue Tiffany’s boxes and how when they let the ashes go, that it was like so many ghosts.”
The cousins were reportedly “very close” and on the night of JFK Jr.’s death, RFK Jr. was waiting for his arrival. Vincent said, “At three in the morning he learns they can’t find a plane. And he just says … ‘Then I knew that they were dead.’”
