WEBVTT - The Kennedy Marchioness 

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm

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<v Speaker 1>and Mild from Aaron Manky listener discretion advised. A small

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<v Speaker 1>private aircraft tears down a runway. Visibility is low, which

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<v Speaker 1>makes flying difficult. The planed passengers were advised against traveling

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<v Speaker 1>under such conditions, but these warnings were dismissed. You see,

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<v Speaker 1>there's a Kennedy on board, and it's generally a bad

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<v Speaker 1>idea to try and tell a Kennedy what to do.

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<v Speaker 1>The plane carrying the Kennedy and their romantic partner takes

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<v Speaker 1>off into the uncertain sky. Little do they know that

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<v Speaker 1>this is the last flight they'll lover take. Think you

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<v Speaker 1>know who this episode is about. Think again. Before John F.

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<v Speaker 1>Kennedy Junior and Carolyn beset Kennedy's tragic last flight, there

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<v Speaker 1>was another Kennedy who lost her life in a surprisingly

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<v Speaker 1>similar way. I'm Danish Schwartz, and this is Noble Blood.

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<v Speaker 1>The so called Kennedy curse is a favorite conversation topic,

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<v Speaker 1>and with good reason. The Kennedys are the closest thing

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<v Speaker 1>twentieth century America had to royalty, and their legacy continues

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<v Speaker 1>on today, for better and worse. The dual assassinations of

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<v Speaker 1>President John F. Kennedy and his little brother Robert would

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<v Speaker 1>have been more than enough, But the Kennedy family tree

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<v Speaker 1>is heavy of tragedies big and small. Take JFK's eldest sister, Rosemary,

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<v Speaker 1>who sustained brain damage during birth that resulted in the

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<v Speaker 1>family lobotomizing her and eventually hiding her away from the

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<v Speaker 1>public eye. Or JFK's eldest brother, Joe Kennedy Junior, the

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<v Speaker 1>namesake full of Promise, who was killed in action during

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<v Speaker 1>World War II. But there's another sister who made quite

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<v Speaker 1>a splash in her day, whose life was defined and

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<v Speaker 1>ultimately ended by her relationship with two different British noblemen.

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<v Speaker 1>Kathleen Agnes Kennedy, often called Kick, was born on February twentieth,

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen twenty, the fourth of Joe and Rose Kennedy's nine children.

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<v Speaker 1>She was born into a rocky relationship. Rose had actually

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<v Speaker 1>left Joe while she was pregnant with Kick, finally fed

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<v Speaker 1>up with her husband's chronic infidelity. Joe Kennedy was larger

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<v Speaker 1>than life, with an insatiable appetite for power, money, and women. Rose,

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<v Speaker 1>a devout Catholic and former first daughter of Boston wouldn't

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<v Speaker 1>stand for it, but she went back to her husband

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<v Speaker 1>before Kick's birth and channeled her energy into raising the

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<v Speaker 1>perfect brood to carry on on the Kennedy name. Nine

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<v Speaker 1>children eventually filled the Kennedy household, and Kick took on

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<v Speaker 1>the role of eldest daughter. Today, Rosemary's condition would have

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<v Speaker 1>been handled differently, but one hundred years ago it was

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<v Speaker 1>just more natural for the family to hand off big

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<v Speaker 1>sister duties to the next girl in line. Money was

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<v Speaker 1>never a concern. Joe Kennedy built a staggering fortune through

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<v Speaker 1>a variety of shrewd and sometimes shady business deals, including

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<v Speaker 1>a stint in Hollywood that earned him millions of dollars

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<v Speaker 1>and an extremely public mistress screen legend Gloria Swanson. Throughout

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<v Speaker 1>the Kennedy children's young lives, Joe's fortune kept growing, as

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<v Speaker 1>did his appetite for power. Against this backdrop of wealth

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<v Speaker 1>and dysfunction, Kick flourished. No one called her Kathleen. She

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<v Speaker 1>was always Kick, a tiny dynamo who refused to be

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<v Speaker 1>left behind by her brothers. She wasn't the beauty of

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<v Speaker 1>the family, but she had an irresistible spirit and a

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<v Speaker 1>natural charm. That drew people to her. The mythos of

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<v Speaker 1>the family name was baked into the Kennedy children from birth.

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<v Speaker 1>They were Kennedy's first individual's second. Joe demanded his children

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<v Speaker 1>look polished and American. Rose governed the household like a

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<v Speaker 1>general commanding the troops. That meant weekly whighand with the result,

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<v Speaker 1>meticulously logged. Meal plans were scrutinized, activities scheduled, all in

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<v Speaker 1>the name of creating perfect children. Befitting the Kennedy brand,

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<v Speaker 1>affection was scarce. Rose's hands were more likely to deliver

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<v Speaker 1>punishment than comfort, But Joe's love was never in question.

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<v Speaker 1>Joe had a soft spot for Kick that everyone could see.

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<v Speaker 1>He loved her fearlessness, her drive, her refusal to back down,

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<v Speaker 1>no doubt because those qualities reminded him of himself. Like

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<v Speaker 1>most royals, Kick's childhood, as structured and emotionally disconnected as

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<v Speaker 1>it was, was also full of privilege, with magical summers

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<v Speaker 1>on Cape Cod and the finest education money could buy.

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<v Speaker 1>But then in nineteen thirty eight, everything changed. Franklin Roosevelt

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<v Speaker 1>named Joe Kennedy the Ambassador to Britain, a job Joe

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<v Speaker 1>had aggressively lobbied for the family sailed for London that March,

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<v Speaker 1>greeted by hordes of photographers hungry for pictures of America's

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<v Speaker 1>most photogenic political family. One magazine joked that Britain had

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<v Speaker 1>received eleven ambassadors for the price of one. The British

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<v Speaker 1>media couldn't get enough of the Kennedys and their lean,

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<v Speaker 1>scrubbed American charm, but Kick quickly became their particular obsession.

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<v Speaker 1>Fresh from her eighteenth birthday, she had arrived to participate

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<v Speaker 1>in the London season when wealthy families paraded their daughters

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<v Speaker 1>before eligible bachelors in hopes of securing a match think Bridgerton.

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<v Speaker 1>But the Kennedys hadn't bought in all the way. Joe

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<v Speaker 1>and Rose wanted to let Kick get some aristocratic Polish,

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<v Speaker 1>then bring her home to marry an appropriate American Catholic boy.

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<v Speaker 1>Peter Grace, heir to a shipping fortune, was already circling

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<v Speaker 1>with intentions to propose, but Kick was never one to

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<v Speaker 1>do what was expected of her. Part of Kick's appeal

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<v Speaker 1>lay in her contradictions. Years of running around with her

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<v Speaker 1>big brothers and their college friends made her confident and

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<v Speaker 1>socially fearless and comfortable with risque he humor, yet convent

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<v Speaker 1>schools had shaped her faith into something deep and genuine.

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<v Speaker 1>She never missed mass and rigorously prayed for her friends

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<v Speaker 1>and loved ones. Kick broke every unspoken rule of British

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<v Speaker 1>debutante culture. She cracked jokes, told stories, and laughed at herself,

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<v Speaker 1>behavior that was practically revolutionary among the buttoned up aristocracy.

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<v Speaker 1>One of her new friends would later say that Kick

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<v Speaker 1>possessed a rare gift. She made everyone around her feel

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<v Speaker 1>more alive. Her coming out was predictably extravagant, leading the

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<v Speaker 1>society magazine Queen to name her quote America's most important debutante.

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<v Speaker 1>It seemed as though every man who met Kick fell

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<v Speaker 1>in love with her. But one nobleman managed to break

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<v Speaker 1>through the adoring crowd. William Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington, or

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<v Speaker 1>Billy as everyone called him, was every bit the formal

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<v Speaker 1>brit to Kicks, brash American. As heir to a dukedom,

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<v Speaker 1>he was considered such a catch that people had floated

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<v Speaker 1>his name as a match for the future Queen Elizabeth.

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<v Speaker 1>He fell hard for Kick, who initially dismissed him as

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<v Speaker 1>just another stuffy aristocrat, but Billy surprised her. Yes, he

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<v Speaker 1>was thoughtful and serious. He was set to inherit a

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<v Speaker 1>serious title and took that responsibility gravely. But he also

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<v Speaker 1>had a gentle, self effacing humor that delighted Kick. Then

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<v Speaker 1>September nineteen thirty nine arrived, and with it the Nazi

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<v Speaker 1>invasion of Poland. Joe Kennedy, worried for his family's safety,

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<v Speaker 1>ordered the family to head back to America, and Kick

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<v Speaker 1>and Billy started to seem like a case of what

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<v Speaker 1>might have been. Back in America, Kick volunteered for the

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<v Speaker 1>Red Cross and got a job at the Washington Times Herald,

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<v Speaker 1>but her heart remained in England. Of all the Kennedy children,

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<v Speaker 1>Kick was the most passionate angliphile and couldn't wait for

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<v Speaker 1>the day she could finally get back. Finally, in nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>forty three, she made her way back across the pond

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<v Speaker 1>and found that Billy Hardington hadn't forgotten her. They picked

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<v Speaker 1>up where they left off and made up for lost time.

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<v Speaker 1>Their friends didn't understand the pairing. Even Jack and Joe

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<v Speaker 1>Junior were baffled by their sister's choice. Kick, having watched

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<v Speaker 1>her father's endless affairs and her mother's silent suffering said

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<v Speaker 1>she valued Billy's kindness and restraint, and Billy was completely

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<v Speaker 1>entramped by Kick's vitality, by her humor, her passionate interest

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<v Speaker 1>in politics and ideas around her. Billy seemed to shed

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<v Speaker 1>his natural reserve and become more himself. But there was

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<v Speaker 1>one problem, and it was a big one. Billy came

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<v Speaker 1>from one of the most stridently anti Catholic families in England,

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<v Speaker 1>and it didn't get more Catholic than the Kennedys. Kick

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<v Speaker 1>remained a devout Catholic and agonized over what this union

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<v Speaker 1>would mean for her family. Billy's parents eventually succumbed to

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<v Speaker 1>Kick's charms and advocated in supports of their son's proposal,

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<v Speaker 1>but Kick remained conflicted until Billy's attempt at a political career.

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<v Speaker 1>Billy ran for a Parliament seat, and Kick was there

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<v Speaker 1>every step of the way. Politics were in her blood,

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<v Speaker 1>and her time around her brother Jack during her us

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<v Speaker 1>return had peaked her interest. She was invigorated by that

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<v Speaker 1>experience and looked forward to more of those similar experiences.

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<v Speaker 1>At Billy's side, Kick decided to follow her heart, and

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<v Speaker 1>she accepted Billy's proposal, despite loud objections from her parents,

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<v Speaker 1>especially Kick's mother Rose, Kick married Billy Hardington on May sixth,

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen forty four, in a civil ceremony attended by his family.

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<v Speaker 1>She wrote to her family to let them know it

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<v Speaker 1>was happening, but when the day came, only Joe Junior

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<v Speaker 1>was in attendance. On Kick's ring, Billy had inscribed, I

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<v Speaker 1>love you more than anything in the world. Clearly, the

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<v Speaker 1>outspoken American had had a positive effect on the buttoned

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<v Speaker 1>up brit They set off for their honeymoon, knowing that

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<v Speaker 1>Billy would soon be shipped back out to the front,

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<v Speaker 1>but they didn't care. They were flesh with the glow

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<v Speaker 1>of knowing they had the rest of their lives ahead

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<v Speaker 1>of them. Of course, the rest of their lives turned

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<v Speaker 1>out to be much shorter than either of them could

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<v Speaker 1>have imagined. Kick Kennedy was a newlywed, counting down the

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<v Speaker 1>days until her husband would return home. She didn't know,

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<v Speaker 1>of course, that she'd already seen Billy for the last time,

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<v Speaker 1>and she didn't know that even that wouldn't be the

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<v Speaker 1>only tragedy that would befall her family that year. On

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<v Speaker 1>August twelfth, just three months after Kick and Billy's wedding,

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<v Speaker 1>Kick's brother, Joseph Kennedy Junior, was killed when his plane

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<v Speaker 1>exploded during a classified bombing mission. Kick was at the

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<v Speaker 1>Cavendish estate with her in laws when the news arrived.

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<v Speaker 1>Billy's parents were quietly relieved she was with them rather

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<v Speaker 1>than alone when she received word that her beloved older

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<v Speaker 1>brother was killed in action. Desperate to be with family,

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<v Speaker 1>Kick flew back to Massachusetts a few days later. As

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<v Speaker 1>the last Kennedy to have seen Joe alive, and with

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<v Speaker 1>her newly wet glow dimmed but not extinguished, Kik brought

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<v Speaker 1>her grieving family some measure of comfort. That comfort was

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<v Speaker 1>to be short lived. Less than a month later, Kik's

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<v Speaker 1>husband was gone as well. Billy was killed in action

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<v Speaker 1>September tenth, nineteen forty four, taken down by a German

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<v Speaker 1>sniper on the Belgian Front. The Marchioness and Marquess of

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<v Speaker 1>Hartington had spent fewer than five weeks together as husband

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<v Speaker 1>and wife. Since there had been no time for Billy

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<v Speaker 1>and Kick to produce an air, Billy's younger brother, Andrew

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<v Speaker 1>became the next in line for the dukedom. Kick received

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<v Speaker 1>a modest inheritance and retained the title of Lady Hardington.

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<v Speaker 1>Friends later Roman marked how cruel it seemed that Kick

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<v Speaker 1>had lost him so close to the war's end, just

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<v Speaker 1>when she'd let herself believe he'd survive. But Kick was

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<v Speaker 1>first and foremost a Kennedy, which meant that emotions were

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<v Speaker 1>something to be outran, and what better way than by

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<v Speaker 1>throwing yourself into work. She returned to the Red Cross,

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<v Speaker 1>arranging hospitality for American servicemen and assisting wounded soldiers. Kick

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<v Speaker 1>bought a small townhouse near Parliament and began to establish

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<v Speaker 1>herself as a political hostess, entertaining great minds like Winston

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<v Speaker 1>Churchill and George Bernard Shaw. Kick was a social creature,

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<v Speaker 1>and her grief hadn't diminished her charms. She may have

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<v Speaker 1>been in mourning, but the men of London were more

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<v Speaker 1>than ready to have her back on the market. She

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<v Speaker 1>had more suitors than ever. The trouble was none of

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<v Speaker 1>them measured up to Billy. Kick spent the next year

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<v Speaker 1>and a half immersed in her work, tracking Jack's political

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<v Speaker 1>career back in the States and letting the eager bachelors

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<v Speaker 1>of London try their best at sweeping her off her feet.

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<v Speaker 1>Then she met her next great love, one that would

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<v Speaker 1>prove even more controversial than a Protestant nobleman. Peter eighth

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<v Speaker 1>Earl Fitzwilliam was a dashing war hero with a fancy pedigree.

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<v Speaker 1>He was also a notorious scoundrel, an inveterate gambler and womanizer.

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<v Speaker 1>He was also married with a young child, but that

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<v Speaker 1>didn't stop him from falling head over heels for Kick Kennedy,

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<v Speaker 1>as had so many men before him. They met in

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<v Speaker 1>June of nineteen forty six at a charity ball she

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<v Speaker 1>helped organize. They danced that night and never stopped. Their

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<v Speaker 1>affair began, and London society coiled in horror. Nobody could

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<v Speaker 1>understand the relationship. Kick was a devout Catholic whose social

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<v Speaker 1>circle was intellectual and politically engaged. Peter was a hard

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<v Speaker 1>partying playboy who never met a bet he didn't take.

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<v Speaker 1>They made absolutely no sense together. Friends speculated that since

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<v Speaker 1>nobody could replace Billy, Kick had found someone much more

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<v Speaker 1>like her father. They also whispered that Peter must have

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<v Speaker 1>been exceptional in bed. It was the only way to

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<v Speaker 1>explain Kick's inordinate attraction to someone so utterly different from gentle,

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<v Speaker 1>principled Billy. From the start, their romance caused a sensation.

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<v Speaker 1>Though they tried staying discreet, word spread quickly. The following summer,

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<v Speaker 1>Kick finally confided in Jack during his visit. He had

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<v Speaker 1>always been her closest sibling, so it made sense that

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<v Speaker 1>he'd be the first to know. She could trust him

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<v Speaker 1>with the secret, but she was terrified of her parents

0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:12.760
<v Speaker 1>finding out. After the drama with Billy, she couldn't imagine

0:17:12.800 --> 0:17:18.080
<v Speaker 1>what her parents, especially her mother, would say. Now. After

0:17:18.240 --> 0:17:22.119
<v Speaker 1>months of agony, the truth finally came out in early

0:17:22.280 --> 0:17:27.680
<v Speaker 1>nineteen forty eight at a family reunion. As predicted, Kick's mother,

0:17:28.000 --> 0:17:34.000
<v Speaker 1>Rose was apoplectic. Another Protestant, this one with a child

0:17:34.400 --> 0:17:39.440
<v Speaker 1>who was planning to divorce his alcoholic wife. Rose threatened

0:17:39.600 --> 0:17:44.440
<v Speaker 1>total disownment. Kick would lose her family, her allowance, everything.

0:17:45.359 --> 0:17:48.880
<v Speaker 1>Rose threatened to leave Joe if he didn't support her position.

0:17:49.480 --> 0:17:53.439
<v Speaker 1>Rose even followed Kick back to England, berating her adult

0:17:53.560 --> 0:17:57.000
<v Speaker 1>daughter in front of her own staff. Rose was certain

0:17:57.080 --> 0:18:01.600
<v Speaker 1>that by marrying Peter Kick would be rooms winning her life,

0:18:01.760 --> 0:18:05.840
<v Speaker 1>but the Kennedy stubbornness was no match even for Rose.

0:18:06.600 --> 0:18:10.800
<v Speaker 1>Kick's only hope was appealing to her father. After all,

0:18:10.880 --> 0:18:14.280
<v Speaker 1>she had always been Joe's favorite. They were too alike

0:18:14.440 --> 0:18:17.359
<v Speaker 1>for him not to take her side in this matter.

0:18:18.000 --> 0:18:20.840
<v Speaker 1>She called him and begged him to meet her and

0:18:20.920 --> 0:18:24.280
<v Speaker 1>Peter while he was in Paris on business. To her

0:18:24.320 --> 0:18:29.720
<v Speaker 1>delight and relief, he agreed. Joe, Kick and Peter would

0:18:29.720 --> 0:18:33.720
<v Speaker 1>have lunch at the Ritz Hotel on Saturday May fifteenth.

0:18:34.359 --> 0:18:38.359
<v Speaker 1>Kick and Peter planned a quick French getaway that would

0:18:38.440 --> 0:18:41.440
<v Speaker 1>end with the happy couple getting the older man's blessing.

0:18:42.160 --> 0:18:46.840
<v Speaker 1>On May thirteenth, nineteen forty eight, Peter chartered a private

0:18:46.880 --> 0:18:51.560
<v Speaker 1>plane to Nie, planning a brief refueling stop in Paris,

0:18:52.080 --> 0:18:55.560
<v Speaker 1>Peter impulsively called some racing friends to meet for a

0:18:55.600 --> 0:18:59.240
<v Speaker 1>quick lunch in the city. A thunderstorm was incoming and

0:18:59.280 --> 0:19:02.480
<v Speaker 1>the pilot was eager to take off as quickly as possible,

0:19:03.040 --> 0:19:06.119
<v Speaker 1>but Peter's pensant for a good time meant that the

0:19:06.560 --> 0:19:11.760
<v Speaker 1>quick lunch stretched to almost three hours. The pilot was

0:19:11.840 --> 0:19:15.600
<v Speaker 1>reluctant to take off, stating that they hit the storm

0:19:15.760 --> 0:19:20.360
<v Speaker 1>at exactly the wrong moment. But Lord Fitzwilliam wasn't used

0:19:20.400 --> 0:19:24.560
<v Speaker 1>to taking no foreign answer. Through a charm, offensive and

0:19:24.840 --> 0:19:29.679
<v Speaker 1>probable bribe, the plane took off. The happy couple, eager

0:19:29.760 --> 0:19:33.880
<v Speaker 1>to start this new chapter of their lives, Kick wore

0:19:33.920 --> 0:19:38.720
<v Speaker 1>her signature pearls and carried her rosary beads. As she

0:19:38.920 --> 0:19:42.439
<v Speaker 1>was packing, she had asked her housekeeper to wish her

0:19:42.560 --> 0:19:45.919
<v Speaker 1>luck on her journey. Should I cross my fingers? The

0:19:45.960 --> 0:19:51.840
<v Speaker 1>housekeeper asked yes, replied Kick, both hands. It wasn't enough.

0:19:52.640 --> 0:19:56.800
<v Speaker 1>With poor visibility and loss of radio contact, the small

0:19:56.840 --> 0:20:00.600
<v Speaker 1>plane flew directly into the center of the storm and

0:20:00.680 --> 0:20:03.240
<v Speaker 1>went down in a field in the south of France.

0:20:03.920 --> 0:20:08.240
<v Speaker 1>There were no survivors. Days earlier, Kick had spoken with

0:20:08.359 --> 0:20:11.600
<v Speaker 1>a friend about Billy, about the joy she had felt

0:20:11.680 --> 0:20:15.840
<v Speaker 1>being married to him. Being in love with Peter was wonderful,

0:20:16.280 --> 0:20:19.840
<v Speaker 1>but it hadn't erased the joyful memories of her time

0:20:20.040 --> 0:20:22.920
<v Speaker 1>with Billy. It was clear that a piece of her

0:20:22.960 --> 0:20:26.760
<v Speaker 1>heart would always remain with him, and she fervently believed

0:20:27.080 --> 0:20:31.439
<v Speaker 1>one day she'd be reunited with quote our beloved Billy.

0:20:32.320 --> 0:20:35.680
<v Speaker 1>No one could have predicted how soon that day would

0:20:35.760 --> 0:20:41.960
<v Speaker 1>actually come. Joe Kennedy was in Paris when he got

0:20:42.000 --> 0:20:45.359
<v Speaker 1>a call from the Boston Globe letting him know that

0:20:45.480 --> 0:20:49.080
<v Speaker 1>his daughter had been killed in a plane crash. Since

0:20:49.119 --> 0:20:52.040
<v Speaker 1>he was the only family member in the country. He

0:20:52.200 --> 0:20:55.480
<v Speaker 1>was tasked with traveling to the crash site to identify

0:20:55.520 --> 0:21:00.000
<v Speaker 1>his daughter's body. When they handed him Kick's personal belongings,

0:21:00.640 --> 0:21:04.840
<v Speaker 1>Joe discovered that among her items was a birth control device.

0:21:05.640 --> 0:21:09.520
<v Speaker 1>It was an undeniable symbol of exactly what kind of

0:21:09.560 --> 0:21:13.160
<v Speaker 1>life his daughter had been living. She had been traveling

0:21:13.240 --> 0:21:17.280
<v Speaker 1>alone with a married man. For an old school Catholic

0:21:17.400 --> 0:21:20.000
<v Speaker 1>as well as a father, it must have been a

0:21:20.080 --> 0:21:24.040
<v Speaker 1>heavy thing to reckon with the news media couldn't find

0:21:24.080 --> 0:21:27.880
<v Speaker 1>out about this. The scandal would impact too many lives.

0:21:28.960 --> 0:21:33.479
<v Speaker 1>Kick's family, Peter's family, and Billie's family joined forces and

0:21:33.640 --> 0:21:39.720
<v Speaker 1>immediately began operation damage control. At Peter's estate, servants rushed

0:21:39.800 --> 0:21:44.119
<v Speaker 1>to erase all traces of Kick's presence. For Peter's wife,

0:21:44.200 --> 0:21:48.440
<v Speaker 1>Bobby arrived from London. Letters from Peter and Kick were

0:21:48.480 --> 0:21:54.399
<v Speaker 1>burned in massive bonfires. Andrew Cavendish, Kick's former brother in law,

0:21:54.640 --> 0:21:58.639
<v Speaker 1>worked the phones, making sure that the official story was

0:21:58.720 --> 0:22:03.280
<v Speaker 1>consistent and Peter were merely friends who had happened to

0:22:03.359 --> 0:22:05.800
<v Speaker 1>run into each other at the Ritz, and that Peter

0:22:06.000 --> 0:22:09.600
<v Speaker 1>had graciously offered her a seat on his chartered plane,

0:22:09.640 --> 0:22:16.080
<v Speaker 1>nothing more. The misinformation campaign worked headlines announced chance invite

0:22:16.119 --> 0:22:20.560
<v Speaker 1>sends Kennedy girl to her death. Billy's parents, the Duke

0:22:20.560 --> 0:22:24.720
<v Speaker 1>and Duchess of Devonshire, made an extraordinary offer to the Kennedys.

0:22:25.080 --> 0:22:28.480
<v Speaker 1>They'd bury Kick in the family plot at Chatsworth, the

0:22:28.520 --> 0:22:33.159
<v Speaker 1>family estate. They knew about Peter, but they had adored

0:22:33.440 --> 0:22:36.399
<v Speaker 1>Kick their daughter in law, and didn't resent her for

0:22:36.640 --> 0:22:41.160
<v Speaker 1>seeking love after their son was gone. Even more remarkably,

0:22:41.600 --> 0:22:46.199
<v Speaker 1>the staunchly anti Catholic family offered to give Kick a

0:22:46.320 --> 0:22:50.959
<v Speaker 1>Roman Catholic funeral. Joe was the only Kennedy who had

0:22:50.960 --> 0:22:55.760
<v Speaker 1>attended the funeral on May twentieth. Jack JFK had planned

0:22:55.840 --> 0:22:59.960
<v Speaker 1>to come, but turned back at the last minute to devastate.

0:23:00.400 --> 0:23:05.080
<v Speaker 1>To attend, the Duke and Duchess stood as chief mourners,

0:23:05.440 --> 0:23:10.960
<v Speaker 1>alongside Joe and the younger Cavendishes. The Duchess personally selected

0:23:11.080 --> 0:23:16.159
<v Speaker 1>the words for Kick's gravestone, Joy she gave Joy she

0:23:16.280 --> 0:23:22.360
<v Speaker 1>has found. Rose refused to attend her daughter's funeral, instead

0:23:22.520 --> 0:23:26.880
<v Speaker 1>checking herself into a hospital. Not a single Kennedy, ever,

0:23:27.000 --> 0:23:31.720
<v Speaker 1>publicly acknowledged the affair. In her memoir. Years later, Rose

0:23:31.760 --> 0:23:35.199
<v Speaker 1>would write that Kick died quote flying in a private

0:23:35.240 --> 0:23:38.160
<v Speaker 1>plane with a few friends to Paris, where her father

0:23:38.359 --> 0:23:42.360
<v Speaker 1>was waiting to meet her. The sanitized version approved by

0:23:42.400 --> 0:23:45.879
<v Speaker 1>all three families, putting on a good front until the

0:23:46.000 --> 0:23:51.240
<v Speaker 1>very end. Kick Kennedy lived for only twenty eight years,

0:23:51.640 --> 0:23:54.680
<v Speaker 1>but she packed more into them than most people manage

0:23:54.680 --> 0:23:59.840
<v Speaker 1>in an entire lifetime. She dazzled London society, defied her

0:24:00.080 --> 0:24:04.800
<v Speaker 1>powerful family twice for love, and carved out an independent

0:24:04.840 --> 0:24:09.200
<v Speaker 1>life as a political hostess and widow, all while maintaining

0:24:09.240 --> 0:24:14.520
<v Speaker 1>her faith and her essential warmth. Her legacy was inevitably

0:24:14.560 --> 0:24:19.320
<v Speaker 1>overshadowed by her more famous brothers, their political careers and

0:24:19.560 --> 0:24:23.800
<v Speaker 1>their own tragic deaths. Her younger brother, Bobby, grew up

0:24:24.000 --> 0:24:28.520
<v Speaker 1>worshiping Kick. His first child was born in nineteen fifty one,

0:24:29.040 --> 0:24:33.760
<v Speaker 1>a daughter he named Kathleen Hardington Kennedy, but no one

0:24:33.920 --> 0:24:37.159
<v Speaker 1>was ever allowed to call her Kick. Kick was a

0:24:37.160 --> 0:24:40.159
<v Speaker 1>woman who made her own way in a man's world

0:24:40.800 --> 0:24:44.760
<v Speaker 1>during an era when that simply wasn't done. If she

0:24:44.840 --> 0:24:47.200
<v Speaker 1>had been a man, there's no telling what she might

0:24:47.240 --> 0:24:52.480
<v Speaker 1>have accomplished. Instead, she's something of a footnote in Kennedy history,

0:24:53.119 --> 0:24:56.280
<v Speaker 1>the sister who died young in a plane crash with

0:24:56.400 --> 0:25:01.120
<v Speaker 1>a married man and in a twist that herself might

0:25:01.160 --> 0:25:06.280
<v Speaker 1>have appreciated, Bobby's son, Robert Junior, named one of his

0:25:06.480 --> 0:25:10.920
<v Speaker 1>daughters Kick. In twenty twenty four, this modern day Kick

0:25:11.040 --> 0:25:14.960
<v Speaker 1>Kennedy made a splash in the tabloids when she was linked,

0:25:15.359 --> 0:25:21.000
<v Speaker 1>possibly erroneously, to Ben Affleck, proving that times may change,

0:25:21.040 --> 0:25:24.560
<v Speaker 1>but the Kick Kennedy name is still always good for

0:25:24.680 --> 0:25:30.320
<v Speaker 1>a headline. That's the tragic life of Kick Kennedy. But

0:25:30.480 --> 0:25:33.919
<v Speaker 1>keep listening after a brief sponsor break to hear a

0:25:33.960 --> 0:25:46.200
<v Speaker 1>bit about another scandalous mistress. Here's the final irony. Kick

0:25:46.359 --> 0:25:49.199
<v Speaker 1>died as a mistress to a married man, but she

0:25:49.480 --> 0:25:53.159
<v Speaker 1>and all of her siblings owed their very existence to

0:25:53.280 --> 0:25:59.880
<v Speaker 1>a different mistress entirely. Rose Kennedy's father, John Honey Fitzger,

0:26:00.840 --> 0:26:04.280
<v Speaker 1>was the former mayor of Boston who fiercely opposed his

0:26:04.400 --> 0:26:08.359
<v Speaker 1>daughter Rose's marriage to Joe Kennedy. It got so bad

0:26:08.560 --> 0:26:12.000
<v Speaker 1>that he was willing to derail her college plans to

0:26:12.200 --> 0:26:16.159
<v Speaker 1>keep her away from the young man. A daddy's girl herself,

0:26:16.600 --> 0:26:20.679
<v Speaker 1>Rose would have most likely heeded her father's wishes, But

0:26:20.840 --> 0:26:25.200
<v Speaker 1>December nineteen thirteen, right in the middle of Honey's reelection

0:26:25.359 --> 0:26:29.359
<v Speaker 1>campaign for mayor of Boston, he received a blackmail letter.

0:26:29.880 --> 0:26:34.320
<v Speaker 1>Its message was clear, withdraw from the race for mayor or.

0:26:34.359 --> 0:26:38.200
<v Speaker 1>The sender would expose his affair with a cigarette girl

0:26:38.280 --> 0:26:42.840
<v Speaker 1>named Toodles, who was the same age as his daughter, Honey.

0:26:42.840 --> 0:26:46.919
<v Speaker 1>Fitzgerald claimed he had barely done more than kiss Toodles

0:26:47.040 --> 0:26:50.680
<v Speaker 1>on a dance floor, but it was enough. The scandal

0:26:50.720 --> 0:26:55.080
<v Speaker 1>would bring shame crashing down on his carefully constructed image

0:26:55.080 --> 0:26:59.720
<v Speaker 1>of family values. He withdrew from the mayoral race, citing

0:27:00.080 --> 0:27:05.320
<v Speaker 1>quote health reasons, and Rose's idealized image of her father

0:27:05.960 --> 0:27:10.480
<v Speaker 1>was forever shattered. Not only had he acted immortally, but

0:27:10.600 --> 0:27:13.840
<v Speaker 1>he'd been forced to slink away with his tail between

0:27:13.840 --> 0:27:18.240
<v Speaker 1>his legs. Rose lost all respect for her father and

0:27:18.480 --> 0:27:21.159
<v Speaker 1>hitched her fate to a man who was by no

0:27:21.280 --> 0:27:25.480
<v Speaker 1>means perfectly behaved, but who never backed down from a fight.

0:27:26.280 --> 0:27:30.360
<v Speaker 1>So Rose married Joe Kennedy, after all, the man her

0:27:30.400 --> 0:27:34.879
<v Speaker 1>father had deemed unworthy, And from that union came a

0:27:35.000 --> 0:27:39.520
<v Speaker 1>pack of dynamic children who would shape American politics and

0:27:39.680 --> 0:27:45.600
<v Speaker 1>culture for generations, including a president and attorney general, a senator,

0:27:46.160 --> 0:27:50.760
<v Speaker 1>and one rebellious, short lived daughter who chose a life

0:27:50.840 --> 0:28:04.320
<v Speaker 1>of love and excitement over family approval. Noble Blood is

0:28:04.359 --> 0:28:08.040
<v Speaker 1>a production of iHeart Radio and Grim and Mild from

0:28:08.040 --> 0:28:12.080
<v Speaker 1>Aaron Mankey. Noble Blood is hosted by me Dana Schwartz,

0:28:12.480 --> 0:28:17.440
<v Speaker 1>with additional writing and research by Hannah Johnston, Hannahswick, Courtney Sender,

0:28:17.680 --> 0:28:21.439
<v Speaker 1>Amy Hit and Julia Milaney. The show is edited and

0:28:21.600 --> 0:28:26.840
<v Speaker 1>produced by Jesse Funk, with supervising producer rima il Kaali

0:28:27.280 --> 0:28:31.400
<v Speaker 1>and executive producers Aaron Manke, Trevor Young, and Matt Frederick.

0:28:31.880 --> 0:28:37.520
<v Speaker 1>For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

0:28:37.760 --> 0:28:41.840
<v Speaker 1>or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.