Carole Radziwill's Kennedy Connection Overlooked in New TV Adaptation
The tragic story of John F Kennedy Jr and his wife Carolyn Bessette has captivated a fresh generation through Ryan Murphy's television series, Love Story. This nine-part biographical drama, available on FX and Hulu, traces the couple's romance from their initial meeting at a party to their untimely deaths alongside Carolyn's sister Lauren Bessette on July 16, 1999. The trio perished when a small aircraft piloted by Kennedy crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near Martha's Vineyard.
A Central Figure Missing from the Narrative
However, as the series delves into the intense relationship between John and Carolyn, one significant person from that era has been entirely excluded from the production. Carole Radziwill, known for her role on The Real Housewives Of New York City, was only thirty-six years old when she endured the devastating loss of her best friends John and Carolyn, followed by her husband Anthony Radziwill within a mere three-week period.
Carole was married to Anthony Radziwill, a cousin of JFK Jr and nephew of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. The two couples shared an exceptionally close bond, with the men serving as best men at each other's weddings. In a 2005 interview, Carole described their deaths as 'soul-crushing', stating, 'We were all unbelievably close. Their deaths brought me to my knees.'
Producers Defend the Omission
Despite this profound connection, Carole does not appear as a character in Murphy's adaptation. Sources close to the production explained to Rob Shuter that Carole 'was adjacent, not central' to the primary plotline. A producer elaborated, 'This story is about John and Carolyn, Carole was never a primary player. You can’t include everyone who attended the dinners. Audiences want the love story. That’s the engine.'
Yet evidence suggests Carole was far more than a casual dinner guest. She regarded John and Carolyn as two of her closest confidants, writing after their deaths, 'I lost everything that night.' A Hollywood insider commented to Y! Entertainment, 'For someone who values that Kennedy proximity, being left out of the definitive retelling? That’s a hard pill.'
Forging a Deep Friendship
Carole's journey into the Kennedy circle began in Manhattan, where she advanced from an unpaid intern to a producer at ABC. It was there she met Anthony, John's cousin, who worked as an associate producer. After dating for two years, Carole was introduced to the family, and in 1992, the couple rented a summer home in the Hamptons with John and Carolyn.
Recalling her first encounter with Carolyn to People in 2005, Carole said, 'She came right over to me as though she knew me and put her hand on my shoulder and asked if I had an extra toothbrush.' She also noted that in the decade she knew him, John never introduced himself as 'John F Kennedy Jr', preferring simply 'John Kennedy'.
Shared Struggles and Unthinkable Loss
Carole and Anthony's marriage was shadowed by Anthony's prolonged battle with testicular cancer, originally diagnosed in 1989. Although he entered remission, new tumours emerged just before their 1994 wedding. He was later diagnosed with fibrosarcoma, a fatal bone cancer, and Carole cared for him over the next five years until his death in August 1999, merely a month after the fatal plane crash.
Throughout this harrowing period, Carole described John and Carolyn as their staunchest supporters. She told The Telegraph in 2005, 'When they were kids, John was always the one who joked with Anthony and could make him laugh. So his way of dealing with the cancer was to continue being funny. He thought it would cheer him up, and it did.'
The Fateful Night and Its Aftermath
In a tragic twist, John and Carolyn died three weeks before Anthony's passing. Carole recalled speaking to Carolyn as they prepared for takeoff, with everything seeming normal. John had flown this route numerous times, but on that foggy night, he lost his bearings, leading to the catastrophic crash.
Carole revealed to People in 2017 that she received a late-night call from John's friend 'Pinky', who was awaiting the couple's arrival at Martha's Vineyard Airport. After contacting air traffic control, she realised the plane was missing and reported their disappearance to the Coast Guard around 2:30 AM. 'Once I said that out loud to the Coast Guard and made the missing persons report, I knew that this was a real thing. That was a heartbreaking moment,' she recounted.
Reflections on a Bygone Era
Prior to releasing her memoir in 2005, Carole penned an exclusive essay for The Daily Mail, reflecting on their last conversation where they discussed dinner plans. 'Frozen in mid-conversation, we had the luxury, the last time we spoke, of talking about what we might have for dinner Sunday,' she wrote. Describing Carolyn as 'the glue who kept people together', Carole reflected, 'I lost everything that night, I wasn't the only one. We all lost something. It was personal for me, and for their friends and family, but it was also bigger. 1999 was the end of an era. The end of a century. It was the end of an innocence we didn't even know we had.'
Life After Tragedy and Reality TV Stint
Following Anthony's death, Carole released her memoir, What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship and Love, which spent twelve weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list. In 2006, she began a monthly column for Glamour Magazine called Lunch Dates, featuring celebrity guests such as Alec Baldwin and Prince Andrew.
Carole joined the fifth season of The Real Housewives of New York City in 2011, remaining until the tenth season in July 2018. Her tenure was marked by drama, including the dissolution of her friendship with Bethenny Frankel and a relationship with chef Adam Kenworthy, who was over twenty years her junior. They parted ways in 2017 after three years together.
Carole sensationally quit the show in 2018 after a public falling-out with producer Andy Cohen, stating she wished to return to journalism. 'I have decided to return to what I do best - journalism and producing,' she announced. 'My original curiosity about reality television has waned over the years and I am focusing on TV and writing projects that better suit my more steady temperament.'
Despite this, it was recently revealed that Carole will return to the series as a 'friend' for the upcoming sixteenth season, surprising many fans given her prior departure and the ongoing exclusion of her story from the Kennedy narrative in Love Story.
