I didn’t want to do any kind of big coverage of Lee Radziwill’s passing over the weekend, but it wasn’t because I didn’t care. Over the years, I’ve loved reading about the Kennedys and the Bouviers, probably because the whole story is so glamorous and tragic. For better or worse, they were America’s royalty. Jackie Kennedy-Onassis and Lee Radziwill were products of their time and their upbringing – their mother, Janet Auchincloss, was a notorious social climber who finally landed one of the richest men in America at that time (Jackie and Lee’s stepfather). Black Jack Bouvier was a notorious drunk and womanizer. Lee and Jackie learned how to turn a blind eye to men’s infidelities and substance abuse and they learned how to attract wealthy, powerful men. Lee and Jackie were famously close, but of course they were also competitive with one another, and they “shared” some men throughout the course of their lives. But here’s something I didn’t know: Jackie left her sister NOTHING in her will.
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and her younger sister Lee Radziwill were two of the most famous sisters in the world — and also two of the most private. Lee’s death on February 15 at age 85 marks the end of an era — and renews curiosity in their complicated relationship.
“It was never sort of black and white. There were always shades of grey, and when you try to paint that relationship with a wide brushstroke it never works because there were times when they were very close,” Jackie, Janet and Lee author J. Randy Taraborrelli tells PEOPLE.
“Then, on the other hand, it sounds pejorative, but it’s definitely true that Jackie could have set Lee up in a great way financially, and she never did,” Taraborrelli adds, referencing Lee’s financial difficulties later in life. “So when Lee needed money for this and for that, Jackie would give it to her or lend it to her, but it fell short of the huge gift that sort of would have set her up for life. Jackie never gave Lee the kind of financial freedom that would have set her up for life, and that’s sort of a function of their relationship. She left her nothing in her will.“
Although Jackie granted Lee’s children, Anthony and Tina, each $500,000, Jackie, who died in May 1994, two years after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma, wrote in her will that she made no provisions for her younger sister, “For whom I have great affection because I have already done so during my lifetime.”
Speaking of Jackie’s decision, Taraborrelli previously told PEOPLE that she had to have been aware of what she was doing to “make that decision and make it so publicly.”
“Of all people Jackie knew that anything she put in writing was going to end up in the public domain eventually,” he shared.
Jackie actually wasn’t flat-out rich when JFK was killed – she was basically living on an allowance from the Kennedy family. When she married Aristotle Onassis, of course he showered her with money and gifts and they lived a very ritzy life. But they grew to despise each other after the death of Ari’s son Alexander Onassis (Ari blamed Jackie, basically accusing her of being some kind of Angel of Death who brought tragedy wherever she went). When Ari passed on, Jackie could have fought Christina Onassis about the division of assets, but Christina made Jackie an offer: a bulk cash settlement to walk away from their family. Jackie took it, moved to New York and invested the money wisely. She had millions of dollars when she passed away. She could have spread the wealth around between her children and her sister and Lee’s children. She chose not to. That’s cold as ice.
Photos courtesy of Getty.
I don’t know how others feel, but if I were as wealthy as Lee I would absolutely want that money spread amongst Jackie’s children and my children.
We don’t absolutely know the full story. Jackie may have told Lee that she was leaving everything to the kids.
Yea, not sure of the controversy here. My will leaves everything to my kids (and husband) and nothing to my siblings. They are adults with their own incomes and abilities. I also hate this questioning on one’s will. No one is “owed” money through inheritance.
No one is owed. Beautifully put!
I agree. A person can leave her money to whomever she wants. Anyways, it sounds like she gave her sister plenty of money while she was alive.
This.
Parents leave money to their children. I don’t know anyone who left money to siblings. She left a million dollars to her sister’s children which sounds pretty generous to me!
The only person I can think of who left money to a sibling was my great aunts sister in law. She didn’t have children, if she’d been married the husband already died. And it was ‘family money’ so she left it to my great uncle. Which was really wonderful because they were people who worked like crazy and who would give someone the shirt off of their back – but kind of just scraped by money wise. Two of the most generous, sweet people I’ve ever known.
My will provides for a sibling. We are close and I feel I’ve been more privileged than he for many reasons. I help support him now and that will continue if he outlives me.
I don’t know why any sibling would be entitled to any other sibling’s money, especially when Jackie had two children. It was quite generous of her and well beyond the call of duty to leave half a million to each of of Lee’s kids.
My trust leaves *everything ($$$$, jewelry, stocks)* (short of a few charitable donations) to my nephews. My sister isn’t getting anything, and I’m VERY close to her. She and her husband are taking care of themselves nicely. As in Jackie and Lee, both were financially comfortable, so it stands to reason you want the kids taken care of. My sister understands and supports this.
IF she wasn’t able to support herself, if she was in need of *anything*, I would (and am!!) here for her in every way, financially and otherwise, and she knows that. So we’re all happy to make sure the kids will be taken care of and comfortable, financially.
Agreed. There is nothing cold about bequeathing $500,000 each to your nieces but not setting up your sibling in luxury. Other than spouses and minor or financial dependants, no one (excluding creditors) is legally entitled to anything out of your estate.
And there should be no societal expectation on how anyone chooses to distribute their estate. Familial relationships in and of themselves do not entitle you to make claims on others. Hasn’t this been the discussion with the Markles? I’m not equating the relationships but the concept is the same. It’s impossible to truly understand relationships from the outside and the judgments we ascribe to them say far more about our own worldview than it does about the relationship in question.
Baffled how this is cold or scandalous. I’m not rich but my beneficiaries are my nieces and nephews(no kids). Most of my relatives and friends left their estates with their children and adult nieces and nephews.
People knew that Lee was a pure socialite. Jackie and Lee were smart women, but Lee chose jobs that people have to work really hard at to be successful since many people want to act, decorate, do PR. Jackie wanted safety for her children, so she married Onassis even though he saw her as a trophy. Lee was intelligent, but not strategic or smart; people loved her, but she was living outside of her means. Jackie needed to protect her kid’s after their father was assasinated; and she sought and got a cerebral 9-to-5 job. I remember when they’d show pap pics of her walking to work with her head down. She inspired me to keep pushing to be taken seriously as a thinker. She showed women what to do when people keep trying to dismiss your intelligence. She earned. Lee lives off of wealthy men, like her mom taught her and tried doing the jobs that wealthy, entitled women try instead of working out of necessity. Lee was beloved by a ton of famous friends, but she had time to be with them in a way that Jackie didn’t seem to because she worked. I understand why Jackie left her nothing from my know-nothing perch.
I read she gave half a million each to Lee’s children. who knows why she didn’t leave any money to lee, her money, her choice.
I can understand if she gave Lee a lot during her life. My husband has a brother who is a huge moocher (my MiL famously cashed in the money her mother left MY KIDS in order to buy him a house), and I can see my husband making a provision like that. I helped you as much as I could, but now I’m helping your kids.
Why should she? She shouldn’t have to carry her sister on her back even in death? I don’t know anything about this but I so often hear people being shamed for not helping family that they have already helped a lot. That’s not fair to Jackie who had her own kids and grandkids to leave her money too. She left money for her nieces and nephews; that should be enough
I totally agree. How was it Jackie’s responsibility to give Lee a comfortable life? She bailed her out over and over, that was very kind of her.
Jackie supported Lee more, or less, throughout her life.
Lee couldn’t afford her lifestyle and relied on her sister’s generosity for a large time.
Jackie also took some financial responsibility for both Tina and Antony.
In fact, some years back Lee was having to auction items just to afford her Parisian apartment.
It never occured to her to curtail her choices and most of NY society hated her due to past behaviour.
I don’t see the problem. She gave Lee’s kids a ton of money by most people’s standards. Jackie probably wanted to leave the bulk to her children and grandchildren. Nothing wrong with that.
Ummmm so what. If I was wealthy my brothers won’t get much either. I’d leave something for my niece but most is going to my children.
I read this years ago and was baffled?!? Lee was her 1st call when JFK was killed and flew to her side to help her get thru. When Jackie miscarried it was Lee that made sure she went on a vacation to convalelence.
I think Lee was incredibly self involved but Jackie could lean on her when it counted.
Jackie placed a huge emphasis on financial support independence so I think much less of her for not bestowing that on her only sister.
It’s not financial independence to expect someone to just give you money.
She left money to Lee’s son and daughter and apparently that’s what really hurt Lee, Jackie literally skipped over her
If my brother died with money (ha!), I wouldn’t expect anything. If he gave my daughter any money, I’d consider that nice and very generous. He has kids and a wife. It should go to them.
I think Jackie always considered her children first. If she’d dropped cash on Lee, it meant less for the kids. Don’t think she was loaded by any means. Nothing like today’s billionaires.
From what little I know of their relationship Jackie often financially supported her sister and I think Lee was not good with money and made bad choices with her husbands (the 2nd once was a broke European aristocrat). So i can understand why, it sounds like she knew her sister would have blown through the money with the lifestyle she lived.
Initially I did find it kind of odd that she completely skipped her sister, but then I’m thinking about it, and I have zero expectations that my brothers would leave me anything in their wills. I don’t even expect them to leave something for my kids. Now granted we don’t have Onassis level money, ha, but the more I think about it the less odd I find it that she prioritized her own kids and Lee’s children and not Lee herself.
Lee was already worth millions when Jackie died. There was no reason to give her more when it would just be passed down to the kids later anyway.
My grandfather left money to all of the grand and great grandchildren in my family and left none to his children or his second wife. No one could touch it until they were 35 unless they used it to pay for school. This happened when i was a child and I remember it being a HUGE stink. His second wife screamed like an animal in the will reading and my mom just started laughing *i know now because she told him too* and it caused a rift with my aunt and uncle for a long time.
Money and family is a weird thing. I still don’t know the nitty gritty details as to why he did it that way. People have reasons, i remember my grandfather as the nicest person ever I can’t imagine he’d do something like that out of spite.
It sounds like he was an observant, wise person.
When someone works hard to save a little or large amount, it’s their choice how it should be divided. Maybe he felt one or more of the adults would be friviolous, and he just skipped to the grandkids and great-grandkids.
Did Lee ever work? Jackie did. When she moved back to New York, she got a job as an editor, a job that she apparently loved and was quite good at. That would play a part in this. And we are not a sibling’s keeper. Jackie had no responsibility to leave anything to Lee.
Lee worked fairly unsuccessfully as an actor, decorator, and PR agent.
Jackie also worked as a book editor in NYC for several years. She was willing to take a job after being married to a very wealthy man. Not sure Lee was willing to do the same.
I don’t see how it’s “cold as ice” that she disnt leave more money to her sister’s kids? She left them each half a million dollars. That’s not a small amount of money. And it sounds like she bailed her sister out financially many times while she was alive. Family relationships are complicated. I don’t judge anyone for not “setting up” their sibling for life. No one has an obligation to do that and choosing not to isn’t cold. I’m sure her sister’s apparent expectation that she do so out a strain on their relationship.
Lee had tons of money of her own & besides she did leave some for her Niece/nephew.This May sound cold as hell,but just cause you’re related to someone doesn’t mean they have to give they’re hard earned money🤷🏼♀️.Im sorry..Relationships especially sibling relationships are complex & cant always be painted with the same brush.
I don’t see it as cold at all. She stated that she helped Lee in her life and that’s why she she got nothing in death. I remember Oprah talking about how she would give family members money to help them and they would blow through the money and come right back with their hand out again. How many times are you supposed to help someone? I can see if there is an illness or something tragic happens, but I am sure more often it is just someone who is terrible handling money and views you as an atm. She did help her when she was alive so maybe Lee squandered the money she gave her and Jackie thought she had helped her enough. No one owes anyone anything. Jackie wanted to leave money to her own kids.
This is the key sentence that really says it all about how she had already given her sister a lot in her life:
wrote in her will that she made no provisions for her younger sister, “For whom I have great affection because I have already done so during my lifetime.”
I think her statement is very clear. She doled out lots of money for years.
Jackie’s sentence is more direct and understandable to the masses than Joan Crawford’s “for reasons which are well-known to them” when she disinherited her eldest two children.
I really don’t think there’s a story here, especially since she left money to Lee’s kids. My husband and I will leave the bulk, if not all, of our estate to our daughter, and none to our siblings. If any is left to anyone else, it will be to the favorite niece or nephew (baby on the way now!) in a trust for college.
Yes, that sounds normal to me. I don’t know why a grown adult sibling would expect anything, especially if the deceased had children.
It’s amazing how messed up money and inheritance make families though.
Yup money and inheritance cause people to become demonic pieces of sh*t. My brother’s gf is a gold digger and she’s always eyeing my mom’s money. They have even verbally threatened my mom. Such trash.
FYI: Lee was most striken that Jackie left her nothing, not even a treasured possession in a very detailed will. Jackie did this intentionally and it seemed incredibly petty.
the reason she did this was because Lee had inherited a large sum of their mother Janet Auchincloss
Yes, that was something I read the other day. Jackie ended up handling most of Janet’s elder care, yet Janet chose to leave a larger chunk to Lee. Supposedly it was to make up for the mother favoring Jackie as a child.
Lee was the favourite daughter for Janet and not Jackie because Jackie looked like her dad and her mother couldn’t stand this. JHanet costatically body shaming Jackie for example.
@Loretta
Exactly.
Multiple Bouvier books have attested that Lee was in fact Janet’s favourite.
Janet was distraught that Jackie looked exactly like “the wretched man” – Black Jack Bouvier.😕😕
Lee lived a lavish life style. One has only to look at pictures of her London home and country estate with it’s 50 acres during her marriage to Radziwill. I don’t have the links but you can google Architectural Digest and Lee Radziwill homes for pictures. There was also an apartment in NYC. She dressed in couture, was one of Truman Capote’s swans, and had close frienships with the like of Peter Beard and Arostotle Onassis. She mixed with Rudolph Nurevev and Andy Warhol. I don’t believe she needed money for a leaky roof.
Jackie couldn’s stand Ari…WAY before the tragic death of his beloved son…The move on Ari was very…calculated by Jackie…because she wanted to ensure that she and her children were taken care of…and away from the dependency on the Kennedy clan…which…one would NEVA want to be beholden too for support…Ari just wanted to take care of Jackie…thought she was a fragile Princess until she married him…then Jackie TAUGHT him what was what…made his life pretty hellish…which was appropriate…as Ari damn near killed Maria Callas by marrying Jackie…
The whole thang…was a mess….
Jackie was referring to JFK as “my husband” even while she was married to Onassis (and still wore his wedding band)
I once read that they were not only living separate lives, Ari was considering divorce. Had he lived an other year or two, it’s possible she would have been his ex instead of widow. He was frustrated by his “purchase”.
Jackie left money to her OWN children and to people who had worked for her. Lee couldn’t manage whatever money came to her and was constantly in need of cash, while Jackie was reportedly not only shrewd (her last boyfriend managed her estate and invested for her) but also very stingy. They both grew up as poor relatives with some very rich people, and Jackie was always obsessed with money.
By the way, Jackie’s mother Janet was hardly a social climber. Her father owned a building on 5th Avenue they lived in.
Jackie’s mother WAS a social climber.
She came from poor Irish stock and lied about being a descendent of Robert E. Lee in order to be included in the Social Registrar.
Also, her first husband lost all of his money during the Great Depression.
That’s when she jumped to Hugh Auchincloss, an heir of Standard Oil.
Reading about their relationship makes me cringe! I have a love hate relationship with my sister sometimes but my god the things these sisters did to each other to one up or get revenge is just awful. I understand that’s how their mother raised them but holy crap what’s the use of having family like this?! Rich people really are a different breed 🙁
We don’t really know what it was like between them. I read tons of biographies but you know how it is – your actions might look s certain way to others but are actually something else altogether.
family dynamics are messy… and then when money is involved, they’re toxic as hell.
I highly recommend a book Lee Radizwell wrote called “Happy Times”. It’s all about how everyone knows alot about the tragedies of this family but not much was printed about happy times. The book is really sweet and gives a real inside peak at this particular time period and social class. Really interesting.
I don’t know much about this story but I do know people who are so bad with money, you just know any new amount they get will go right down the drain. In the cases I know, it’s not drugs or gambling or anything like that, just really bad management, like they push money away. I think when people have money problems like it sounds like Lee had, more money is often not the solution, just like more drugs wouldn’t be the solution for an addict. I could also see Jackie thinking about the legacy her money might have, e.g. that the next generation might use it for education, charity, service, new investments etc.
I don’t know the dynamics of their relationship, however an adult doesn’t owe another in inheritance. They can do with it as they so choose.
She became wealthy later in life when Maurice Templesman helped her invest what she was able to get from Ari’s estate.
And now it all belongs to Caroline, she’s a very wealthy woman. And that drives Bobby’s kids NUTS.
😉😉😉😉😂😂😂
It specifically drives Joe-for-Oil (as he’s called. Joe Kennedy II, former MA congressman) nuts. he’s the one who always displayed competition and jealousy of Caroline and John Jr when he was alive. I don’t know if the other RFK offspring care as much.
I don’t think it’s cold for Jackie not to leave money to Lee. Jackie was not obligated to support her sister. And as other commenters stated, Jackie adn Lee had very different life philosophies. After Onassis death, Jackie worked as an editor until shortly before her death (even after her diagnosis), while Lee worked briefly as an interior designer for hte very rich and had a failed acting career but mostly just survived on being rich, beautiful and fashionable.
How the hell is that “cold as ice”? If I had millions I wouldn’t leave my siblings ANYTHING. They have been horrible to me…why would I reward them for that? People can do whatever they want with their OWN money. No children, siblings, or grandchildren are entitled to anything !
a. this has nothing to do with anyone else
b. I doubt Lee was on the breadline
c. how long has Jackie been dead? So why bring it up now?
As a general note, it is often more sensible to leave to siblings children – certainly in the UK in view of the Inheritance Tax situation. Don’t know what that is like in the States.
Lee’s obituary in the NY Times is one of the worst things I have ever read. Mean, cruel and everything she would not have wanted. Half of it was about Jackie, and it is where this detail about the will appeared. I really was astonished when I read that Times obit.
It was truly amazing, the level of spite and I’m wondering who in editorial allowed it to be published. The writer admitted he had spoken with Lee about it beforehand (I guess famous people and socialites get this strange privilege at the NYT) so she would have had input. Sounds like the writer had a personal grudge.
@TheOtherSam, I found that comment by the author of the obit that s/he had spoken to Lee utterly bizarre. I just now looked to see who had the byline and it is a generic The Associated Press with a “former AP writer Suzanne Boyle” contributing to the report. Maybe she/they simply had disdain for their subject. I’ve been shocked at the awful comments I’ve read online about Lee and Jackie in the past few days. Whatever it was, the writers did exactly what Lee did not want and that is just bad form. You don’t do that to the dead.
Cold as ice? To say so yes.
I don’t plan on leaving my sister anything either. My will has already been written, and everything but my closet of clothing is going to my sisters sons, because their favorite Aunt is warm and loving
That is your choice and I won’t leave sh*t to my siblings either. However, do you think there is a chance your sister might try to get money out of her sons once they receive it? This is assuming she outlives you. I hope your nephews respect your wishes and don’t share it with her.
Jackie had two children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews. She helped support Lee during her lifetime. Lee was married to a prince and to the film director, Herbert Ross. I would assume both men had a bit of money. What happened to it? Jackie held jobs at different times in her life. Did Lee ever work? Maybe Jackie was simply tired of providing for a sibling who seemed to expect it.
And, IIRC, Lee bonked both JFK and Onassis, so gotta be a bit of tension there.
I think the Prince was broke who married her for her family (read Kennedy) connections. Jackie had a job as an editor/publisher after her marriage to Onassis ended so she supported herself as well as invested any money she got from that marriage. IIRC, Lee was a professional socialite who never had a career and lived beyond her means, hence why Jackie kept giving her money.
I’m sorry but I have children whatever I have goes to my spouse and my children, even if I was rich that’s how it would probably roll. Why was she responsible for minding her sister? Lee married two men who should have had a little something in the bank, this is a non-story people.
Rumor is/was that Lee had issues with substances, specifically prescription meds, over the years and Jackie didn’t want to support or enable that by leaving her a lot of money. Plus, as stated here, she already had taken care of her during her lifetime. I believe she left trust money to Lee’s two children iirc.
Now that Lee has passed I’m sure there will be more details about her life forthcoming. That social circle tends to keep its own while individuals in question are still living; once passed the lid loosens.
If Jackie was constantly giving Lee money then she likely feared what would happen if she gave her a lump sum upon death.
She probably expected the money she left to Lee’s children would partially go to their mother but in a way that would help Lee the most
Family dynamics are often fraught with complications, jealousy, rivalry and petty slights — real or imagined. They are rarely simple or straightforward.
Lee Bouvier did make several attempts to forge a career for herself during her lifetime: as an actress on stage and TV; as an interior designer and as a PR executive. Ultimately, she was unsuccessful at all three career choices despite her high profile. It was well known that Lee oftentimes lived beyond her means.
Jackie did often help her out financially during their lifetimes although Jackie was under no obligation to do so. I do find it petty and nasty on Jackie’s part that for reasons known only to herself, that she made it a point to state in her will that she was not bequeathing anything to Lee because she had provided for her in her lifetime. That was a big slap in the face, IMO — especially since with Jackie’s high profile, it was sure to be the subject of intense speculation.
The morale of this story is: Be self-reliant. God bless the child who has his/her own!
Jackie’s settlement with Tina Onassis was for $26 million. Ari had started divorce proceedings 2 months before he died but nothing was finalized. According to a couple of web sites, Anthony Radziwill had a very high net worth. Not sure where it all came from unless a fair portion was inherited from his father.
http://www.getnetworth.com/tag/prince-anthony-stanislas-radziwill-height/
Lee was still “seeing” Ari O as she had been off & on for 6 years when Jackie made the surprise move to marry Ari. Ari, not Jackie, called Lee to tell her he was getting married. Maria Callas loved Ari for many years but she was never in the running for “wife.”
I love listening to biographies online and wow those Radziwill folks go a long way back in history.
Family is a tough thing and they all helped produce Grey Gardens, by which I mean the family didn’t help those women in need. Lee also said she wasn’t free until her brother-in-law was assassinated. Jackie may not have liked that very much and it’s pretty wonderful that she provided for her niece and nephew. Like the quote from the article, it wasn’t black and white.
I thought Lee was pretty wealthy in her own right? I figured leaving it to her children was just … normal, and extra nice to include her nieces/nephews *shrug*
Wasn’t her last marriage to Herb Ross, the movie director?He made a million per movie, and had no children, he must have left her with a tidy sum when they divorced in 2001.
So…. Jackie was not a nice woman. Surprised no one else posted that here. I mean, Lee probably wasn’t either, it was not how they were raised. They were raised to go get what they could, even if it meant stepping on each other to do it. Go Camelot!
People usually leave money and assests to their children. What is strange is she left some money to Lee’s children? This is actually nice. Maybe she knew that money would pay off a mortgage or something.
Interesting article on Lee
https://southernaristocracy.org/2013/10/04/lee-radziwill-princess-of-indecisiveness/
So much misinformation in comments. Jackie got about 26 million from Onassis’s estate, but her lover Maurice Tempelsman (yet another married man Jackie had no qualms about stealing) invested it and turned that into over a hundred million. Lee never had lots of personal wealth of her own, not what it took to fund the lifestyle she and Jackie were used to. The sisters were very close, but two things damaged their relationship. One was when Jackie stole Ari away from Lee. Don’t believe Lee’s later protests; Lee definitely had an affair with Onassis, hoped to patch things back up with him romantically after he’d put the brakes on it, but Jackie went for him and caught him. Another huge issue was that Lee didn’t visit ill people, so when their half sister Janet was dying of cancer, Yusha and Jackie did so much for her, but Lee never visited. Same with their mother, basically, who suffered dementia. Jackie made sure to care for her or have her cared for, but Lee stayed away. LEE WASN’T EVEN ALLOWED TO SPEAK AT HER SISTER’S FUNERAL, because John and Caroline were upset Lee hadn’t visited Jackie until the very end. So that was a huge issue. It was definitely within Jackie’s immense wealth to do something for her sister if she cared to, but she didn’t want to.