The Kennedy Marchioness

One of the most glamorous members of the Kennedy clan, Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy dazzled and scandalized British society. But her story would ultimately end in tragedy.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm
and Mild from Aaron Manky listener discretion advised. A small
private aircraft tears down a runway. Visibility is low, which
makes flying difficult. The planed passengers were advised against traveling

(00:20):
under such conditions, but these warnings were dismissed. You see,
there's a Kennedy on board, and it's generally a bad
idea to try and tell a Kennedy what to do.
The plane carrying the Kennedy and their romantic partner takes
off into the uncertain sky. Little do they know that
this is the last flight they'll lover take. Think you

(00:43):
know who this episode is about. Think again. Before John F.
Kennedy Junior and Carolyn beset Kennedy's tragic last flight, there
was another Kennedy who lost her life in a surprisingly
similar way. I'm Danish Schwartz, and this is Noble Blood.

(01:06):
The so called Kennedy curse is a favorite conversation topic,
and with good reason. The Kennedys are the closest thing
twentieth century America had to royalty, and their legacy continues
on today, for better and worse. The dual assassinations of
President John F. Kennedy and his little brother Robert would

(01:30):
have been more than enough, But the Kennedy family tree
is heavy of tragedies big and small. Take JFK's eldest sister, Rosemary,
who sustained brain damage during birth that resulted in the
family lobotomizing her and eventually hiding her away from the
public eye. Or JFK's eldest brother, Joe Kennedy Junior, the

(01:55):
namesake full of Promise, who was killed in action during
World War II. But there's another sister who made quite
a splash in her day, whose life was defined and
ultimately ended by her relationship with two different British noblemen.
Kathleen Agnes Kennedy, often called Kick, was born on February twentieth,

(02:19):
nineteen twenty, the fourth of Joe and Rose Kennedy's nine children.
She was born into a rocky relationship. Rose had actually
left Joe while she was pregnant with Kick, finally fed
up with her husband's chronic infidelity. Joe Kennedy was larger
than life, with an insatiable appetite for power, money, and women. Rose,

(02:45):
a devout Catholic and former first daughter of Boston wouldn't
stand for it, but she went back to her husband
before Kick's birth and channeled her energy into raising the
perfect brood to carry on on the Kennedy name. Nine
children eventually filled the Kennedy household, and Kick took on

(03:07):
the role of eldest daughter. Today, Rosemary's condition would have
been handled differently, but one hundred years ago it was
just more natural for the family to hand off big
sister duties to the next girl in line. Money was
never a concern. Joe Kennedy built a staggering fortune through

(03:27):
a variety of shrewd and sometimes shady business deals, including
a stint in Hollywood that earned him millions of dollars
and an extremely public mistress screen legend Gloria Swanson. Throughout
the Kennedy children's young lives, Joe's fortune kept growing, as

(03:48):
did his appetite for power. Against this backdrop of wealth
and dysfunction, Kick flourished. No one called her Kathleen. She
was always Kick, a tiny dynamo who refused to be
left behind by her brothers. She wasn't the beauty of
the family, but she had an irresistible spirit and a

(04:10):
natural charm. That drew people to her. The mythos of
the family name was baked into the Kennedy children from birth.
They were Kennedy's first individual's second. Joe demanded his children
look polished and American. Rose governed the household like a

(04:30):
general commanding the troops. That meant weekly whighand with the result,
meticulously logged. Meal plans were scrutinized, activities scheduled, all in
the name of creating perfect children. Befitting the Kennedy brand,
affection was scarce. Rose's hands were more likely to deliver

(04:52):
punishment than comfort, But Joe's love was never in question.
Joe had a soft spot for Kick that everyone could see.
He loved her fearlessness, her drive, her refusal to back down,
no doubt because those qualities reminded him of himself. Like

(05:12):
most royals, Kick's childhood, as structured and emotionally disconnected as
it was, was also full of privilege, with magical summers
on Cape Cod and the finest education money could buy.
But then in nineteen thirty eight, everything changed. Franklin Roosevelt

(05:33):
named Joe Kennedy the Ambassador to Britain, a job Joe
had aggressively lobbied for the family sailed for London that March,
greeted by hordes of photographers hungry for pictures of America's
most photogenic political family. One magazine joked that Britain had
received eleven ambassadors for the price of one. The British

(05:57):
media couldn't get enough of the Kennedys and their lean,
scrubbed American charm, but Kick quickly became their particular obsession.
Fresh from her eighteenth birthday, she had arrived to participate
in the London season when wealthy families paraded their daughters
before eligible bachelors in hopes of securing a match think Bridgerton.

(06:20):
But the Kennedys hadn't bought in all the way. Joe
and Rose wanted to let Kick get some aristocratic Polish,
then bring her home to marry an appropriate American Catholic boy.
Peter Grace, heir to a shipping fortune, was already circling
with intentions to propose, but Kick was never one to

(06:43):
do what was expected of her. Part of Kick's appeal
lay in her contradictions. Years of running around with her
big brothers and their college friends made her confident and
socially fearless and comfortable with risque he humor, yet convent
schools had shaped her faith into something deep and genuine.

(07:06):
She never missed mass and rigorously prayed for her friends
and loved ones. Kick broke every unspoken rule of British
debutante culture. She cracked jokes, told stories, and laughed at herself,
behavior that was practically revolutionary among the buttoned up aristocracy.

(07:28):
One of her new friends would later say that Kick
possessed a rare gift. She made everyone around her feel
more alive. Her coming out was predictably extravagant, leading the
society magazine Queen to name her quote America's most important debutante.

(07:49):
It seemed as though every man who met Kick fell
in love with her. But one nobleman managed to break
through the adoring crowd. William Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington, or
Billy as everyone called him, was every bit the formal
brit to Kicks, brash American. As heir to a dukedom,

(08:13):
he was considered such a catch that people had floated
his name as a match for the future Queen Elizabeth.
He fell hard for Kick, who initially dismissed him as
just another stuffy aristocrat, but Billy surprised her. Yes, he
was thoughtful and serious. He was set to inherit a

(08:36):
serious title and took that responsibility gravely. But he also
had a gentle, self effacing humor that delighted Kick. Then
September nineteen thirty nine arrived, and with it the Nazi
invasion of Poland. Joe Kennedy, worried for his family's safety,

(08:58):
ordered the family to head back to America, and Kick
and Billy started to seem like a case of what
might have been. Back in America, Kick volunteered for the
Red Cross and got a job at the Washington Times Herald,
but her heart remained in England. Of all the Kennedy children,

(09:20):
Kick was the most passionate angliphile and couldn't wait for
the day she could finally get back. Finally, in nineteen
forty three, she made her way back across the pond
and found that Billy Hardington hadn't forgotten her. They picked
up where they left off and made up for lost time.

(09:40):
Their friends didn't understand the pairing. Even Jack and Joe
Junior were baffled by their sister's choice. Kick, having watched
her father's endless affairs and her mother's silent suffering said
she valued Billy's kindness and restraint, and Billy was completely
entramped by Kick's vitality, by her humor, her passionate interest

(10:05):
in politics and ideas around her. Billy seemed to shed
his natural reserve and become more himself. But there was
one problem, and it was a big one. Billy came
from one of the most stridently anti Catholic families in England,
and it didn't get more Catholic than the Kennedys. Kick

(10:28):
remained a devout Catholic and agonized over what this union
would mean for her family. Billy's parents eventually succumbed to
Kick's charms and advocated in supports of their son's proposal,
but Kick remained conflicted until Billy's attempt at a political career.

(10:49):
Billy ran for a Parliament seat, and Kick was there
every step of the way. Politics were in her blood,
and her time around her brother Jack during her us
return had peaked her interest. She was invigorated by that
experience and looked forward to more of those similar experiences.
At Billy's side, Kick decided to follow her heart, and

(11:12):
she accepted Billy's proposal, despite loud objections from her parents,
especially Kick's mother Rose, Kick married Billy Hardington on May sixth,
nineteen forty four, in a civil ceremony attended by his family.
She wrote to her family to let them know it
was happening, but when the day came, only Joe Junior

(11:35):
was in attendance. On Kick's ring, Billy had inscribed, I
love you more than anything in the world. Clearly, the
outspoken American had had a positive effect on the buttoned
up brit They set off for their honeymoon, knowing that
Billy would soon be shipped back out to the front,

(11:57):
but they didn't care. They were flesh with the glow
of knowing they had the rest of their lives ahead
of them. Of course, the rest of their lives turned
out to be much shorter than either of them could
have imagined. Kick Kennedy was a newlywed, counting down the
days until her husband would return home. She didn't know,

(12:20):
of course, that she'd already seen Billy for the last time,
and she didn't know that even that wouldn't be the
only tragedy that would befall her family that year. On
August twelfth, just three months after Kick and Billy's wedding,
Kick's brother, Joseph Kennedy Junior, was killed when his plane

(12:41):
exploded during a classified bombing mission. Kick was at the
Cavendish estate with her in laws when the news arrived.
Billy's parents were quietly relieved she was with them rather
than alone when she received word that her beloved older
brother was killed in action. Desperate to be with family,

(13:02):
Kick flew back to Massachusetts a few days later. As
the last Kennedy to have seen Joe alive, and with
her newly wet glow dimmed but not extinguished, Kik brought
her grieving family some measure of comfort. That comfort was
to be short lived. Less than a month later, Kik's

(13:24):
husband was gone as well. Billy was killed in action
September tenth, nineteen forty four, taken down by a German
sniper on the Belgian Front. The Marchioness and Marquess of
Hartington had spent fewer than five weeks together as husband
and wife. Since there had been no time for Billy

(13:46):
and Kick to produce an air, Billy's younger brother, Andrew
became the next in line for the dukedom. Kick received
a modest inheritance and retained the title of Lady Hardington.
Friends later Roman marked how cruel it seemed that Kick
had lost him so close to the war's end, just

(14:06):
when she'd let herself believe he'd survive. But Kick was
first and foremost a Kennedy, which meant that emotions were
something to be outran, and what better way than by
throwing yourself into work. She returned to the Red Cross,
arranging hospitality for American servicemen and assisting wounded soldiers. Kick

(14:31):
bought a small townhouse near Parliament and began to establish
herself as a political hostess, entertaining great minds like Winston
Churchill and George Bernard Shaw. Kick was a social creature,
and her grief hadn't diminished her charms. She may have
been in mourning, but the men of London were more

(14:52):
than ready to have her back on the market. She
had more suitors than ever. The trouble was none of
them measured up to Billy. Kick spent the next year
and a half immersed in her work, tracking Jack's political
career back in the States and letting the eager bachelors
of London try their best at sweeping her off her feet.

(15:14):
Then she met her next great love, one that would
prove even more controversial than a Protestant nobleman. Peter eighth
Earl Fitzwilliam was a dashing war hero with a fancy pedigree.
He was also a notorious scoundrel, an inveterate gambler and womanizer.

(15:35):
He was also married with a young child, but that
didn't stop him from falling head over heels for Kick Kennedy,
as had so many men before him. They met in
June of nineteen forty six at a charity ball she
helped organize. They danced that night and never stopped. Their

(15:56):
affair began, and London society coiled in horror. Nobody could
understand the relationship. Kick was a devout Catholic whose social
circle was intellectual and politically engaged. Peter was a hard
partying playboy who never met a bet he didn't take.

(16:17):
They made absolutely no sense together. Friends speculated that since
nobody could replace Billy, Kick had found someone much more
like her father. They also whispered that Peter must have
been exceptional in bed. It was the only way to
explain Kick's inordinate attraction to someone so utterly different from gentle,

(16:41):
principled Billy. From the start, their romance caused a sensation.
Though they tried staying discreet, word spread quickly. The following summer,
Kick finally confided in Jack during his visit. He had
always been her closest sibling, so it made sense that
he'd be the first to know. She could trust him

(17:04):
with the secret, but she was terrified of her parents
finding out. After the drama with Billy, she couldn't imagine
what her parents, especially her mother, would say. Now. After
months of agony, the truth finally came out in early
nineteen forty eight at a family reunion. As predicted, Kick's mother,

(17:28):
Rose was apoplectic. Another Protestant, this one with a child
who was planning to divorce his alcoholic wife. Rose threatened
total disownment. Kick would lose her family, her allowance, everything.
Rose threatened to leave Joe if he didn't support her position.

(17:49):
Rose even followed Kick back to England, berating her adult
daughter in front of her own staff. Rose was certain
that by marrying Peter Kick would be rooms winning her life,
but the Kennedy stubbornness was no match even for Rose.
Kick's only hope was appealing to her father. After all,

(18:10):
she had always been Joe's favorite. They were too alike
for him not to take her side in this matter.
She called him and begged him to meet her and
Peter while he was in Paris on business. To her
delight and relief, he agreed. Joe, Kick and Peter would
have lunch at the Ritz Hotel on Saturday May fifteenth.

(18:34):
Kick and Peter planned a quick French getaway that would
end with the happy couple getting the older man's blessing.
On May thirteenth, nineteen forty eight, Peter chartered a private
plane to Nie, planning a brief refueling stop in Paris,
Peter impulsively called some racing friends to meet for a

(18:55):
quick lunch in the city. A thunderstorm was incoming and
the pilot was eager to take off as quickly as possible,
but Peter's pensant for a good time meant that the
quick lunch stretched to almost three hours. The pilot was
reluctant to take off, stating that they hit the storm

(19:15):
at exactly the wrong moment. But Lord Fitzwilliam wasn't used
to taking no foreign answer. Through a charm, offensive and
probable bribe, the plane took off. The happy couple, eager
to start this new chapter of their lives, Kick wore
her signature pearls and carried her rosary beads. As she

(19:38):
was packing, she had asked her housekeeper to wish her
luck on her journey. Should I cross my fingers? The
housekeeper asked yes, replied Kick, both hands. It wasn't enough.
With poor visibility and loss of radio contact, the small
plane flew directly into the center of the storm and

(20:00):
went down in a field in the south of France.
There were no survivors. Days earlier, Kick had spoken with
a friend about Billy, about the joy she had felt
being married to him. Being in love with Peter was wonderful,
but it hadn't erased the joyful memories of her time
with Billy. It was clear that a piece of her

(20:22):
heart would always remain with him, and she fervently believed
one day she'd be reunited with quote our beloved Billy.
No one could have predicted how soon that day would
actually come. Joe Kennedy was in Paris when he got
a call from the Boston Globe letting him know that

(20:45):
his daughter had been killed in a plane crash. Since
he was the only family member in the country. He
was tasked with traveling to the crash site to identify
his daughter's body. When they handed him Kick's personal belongings,
Joe discovered that among her items was a birth control device.

(21:05):
It was an undeniable symbol of exactly what kind of
life his daughter had been living. She had been traveling
alone with a married man. For an old school Catholic
as well as a father, it must have been a
heavy thing to reckon with the news media couldn't find
out about this. The scandal would impact too many lives.

(21:28):
Kick's family, Peter's family, and Billie's family joined forces and
immediately began operation damage control. At Peter's estate, servants rushed
to erase all traces of Kick's presence. For Peter's wife,
Bobby arrived from London. Letters from Peter and Kick were
burned in massive bonfires. Andrew Cavendish, Kick's former brother in law,

(21:54):
worked the phones, making sure that the official story was
consistent and Peter were merely friends who had happened to
run into each other at the Ritz, and that Peter
had graciously offered her a seat on his chartered plane,
nothing more. The misinformation campaign worked headlines announced chance invite

(22:16):
sends Kennedy girl to her death. Billy's parents, the Duke
and Duchess of Devonshire, made an extraordinary offer to the Kennedys.
They'd bury Kick in the family plot at Chatsworth, the
family estate. They knew about Peter, but they had adored
Kick their daughter in law, and didn't resent her for

(22:36):
seeking love after their son was gone. Even more remarkably,
the staunchly anti Catholic family offered to give Kick a
Roman Catholic funeral. Joe was the only Kennedy who had
attended the funeral on May twentieth. Jack JFK had planned
to come, but turned back at the last minute to devastate.

(23:00):
To attend, the Duke and Duchess stood as chief mourners,
alongside Joe and the younger Cavendishes. The Duchess personally selected
the words for Kick's gravestone, Joy she gave Joy she
has found. Rose refused to attend her daughter's funeral, instead

(23:22):
checking herself into a hospital. Not a single Kennedy, ever,
publicly acknowledged the affair. In her memoir. Years later, Rose
would write that Kick died quote flying in a private
plane with a few friends to Paris, where her father
was waiting to meet her. The sanitized version approved by
all three families, putting on a good front until the

(23:46):
very end. Kick Kennedy lived for only twenty eight years,
but she packed more into them than most people manage
in an entire lifetime. She dazzled London society, defied her
powerful family twice for love, and carved out an independent
life as a political hostess and widow, all while maintaining

(24:09):
her faith and her essential warmth. Her legacy was inevitably
overshadowed by her more famous brothers, their political careers and
their own tragic deaths. Her younger brother, Bobby, grew up
worshiping Kick. His first child was born in nineteen fifty one,
a daughter he named Kathleen Hardington Kennedy, but no one

(24:33):
was ever allowed to call her Kick. Kick was a
woman who made her own way in a man's world
during an era when that simply wasn't done. If she
had been a man, there's no telling what she might
have accomplished. Instead, she's something of a footnote in Kennedy history,
the sister who died young in a plane crash with

(24:56):
a married man and in a twist that herself might
have appreciated, Bobby's son, Robert Junior, named one of his
daughters Kick. In twenty twenty four, this modern day Kick
Kennedy made a splash in the tabloids when she was linked,
possibly erroneously, to Ben Affleck, proving that times may change,

(25:21):
but the Kick Kennedy name is still always good for
a headline. That's the tragic life of Kick Kennedy. But
keep listening after a brief sponsor break to hear a
bit about another scandalous mistress. Here's the final irony. Kick

(25:46):
died as a mistress to a married man, but she
and all of her siblings owed their very existence to
a different mistress entirely. Rose Kennedy's father, John Honey Fitzger,
was the former mayor of Boston who fiercely opposed his
daughter Rose's marriage to Joe Kennedy. It got so bad

(26:08):
that he was willing to derail her college plans to
keep her away from the young man. A daddy's girl herself,
Rose would have most likely heeded her father's wishes, But
December nineteen thirteen, right in the middle of Honey's reelection
campaign for mayor of Boston, he received a blackmail letter.

(26:29):
Its message was clear, withdraw from the race for mayor or.
The sender would expose his affair with a cigarette girl
named Toodles, who was the same age as his daughter, Honey.
Fitzgerald claimed he had barely done more than kiss Toodles
on a dance floor, but it was enough. The scandal

(26:50):
would bring shame crashing down on his carefully constructed image
of family values. He withdrew from the mayoral race, citing
quote health reasons, and Rose's idealized image of her father
was forever shattered. Not only had he acted immortally, but
he'd been forced to slink away with his tail between

(27:13):
his legs. Rose lost all respect for her father and
hitched her fate to a man who was by no
means perfectly behaved, but who never backed down from a fight.
So Rose married Joe Kennedy, after all, the man her
father had deemed unworthy, And from that union came a

(27:35):
pack of dynamic children who would shape American politics and
culture for generations, including a president and attorney general, a senator,
and one rebellious, short lived daughter who chose a life
of love and excitement over family approval. Noble Blood is

(28:04):
a production of iHeart Radio and Grim and Mild from
Aaron Mankey. Noble Blood is hosted by me Dana Schwartz,
with additional writing and research by Hannah Johnston, Hannahswick, Courtney Sender,
Amy Hit and Julia Milaney. The show is edited and
produced by Jesse Funk, with supervising producer rima il Kaali

(28:27):
and executive producers Aaron Manke, Trevor Young, and Matt Frederick.
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