Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shamelessly told a crowd of mourners at tragic wife Mary Richardson Kennedy’s funeral yesterday that her suicide was not his fault.
Mary, 52, hanged herself Wednesday in the barn of her Westchester mansion. Kennedy spent most of his eulogy lavishing praise on his wife — although he noted that she harbored a grudge against him.
“She was a SoHo girl . . . She blamed me for taking her away from her profession [to raise a family],” he said, referring to her former career as an architectural designer in Manhattan.
Sound familiar? Reminds me of a different Kennedy who deflected blame for a damsel's death:
In his 532-page book, True Compass, the late Ted Kennedy admitted to "inexcusable" behaviour after the Chappaquiddick car crash, saying that he was dazed, scared and panicked following the 1969 accident in which he drove off a bridge and left his passenger to drown.
He said he made "terrible decisions" in leaving the scene with Mary Jo Kopechne still in the car although he continued to be vague – as he was at the time – over why it took him 10 hours to report the accident on an island off Massachusetts.
Which leads us to WIlliam Kennedy Smith, who - after a night of pounding drinks with Uncle Teddy - decided to have some good old-fashioned Kennedy fun, even if the participants were unwilling:
The incident began on the evening of Good Friday, March 29, 1991, when Smith, then 30 years old, was in a bar in Palm Beach, Florida, with his uncle, Senator Ted Kennedy, and his cousin Patrick Kennedy.
Smith met a 29-year-old woman, Patricia Bowman and another young woman at the bar. The four then went to a nearby house owned by the Kennedy family. Smith and 29-year-old Bowman walked along the beach.
Bowman alleged that Smith raped her; Smith testified that the sex was consensual. Although three women were willing to testify that Smith had sexually assaulted them in incidents in the 1980s not reported to the police, their testimony was excluded. Smith was acquitted of all charges.
Teddy gets away with murder, William with rape...and RFK Jr.? Accused of nothing, he gets defensive - at his wife's funeral, no less. Not a criminal, just a cad, and likely a poor excuse for a husband.
Lesson for the ladies: Frolic with a Kennedy, and you wind up dishonored and/or dead. And blamed for it at your funeral...
