Lee beat Jackie to the altar in April 1953, but Jackie then snagged the most eligible bachelor in the country, John F. Kennedy. In 1960, Jackie became First Lady. The responsibility was a great one and Jackie came to rely on her sister, not least after the devastating effects of the assassination of JFK in November 1963.
Once stymied by her unofficial role in the presidential family, Lee was now free to pursue her own dreams. She began writing and even launched a short-lived acting career.
Tragedy, however, stalked Jackie. In 1968, Robert Kennedy was assassinated. Perhaps it was that renewed grief that pushed Jackie into a fresh marriage to Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis freed from the Kennedy burden. This came as a particular shock to Lee, who had once conducted her own affair with the tycoon as her second marriage disintegrated. The relationship between sisters never truly recovered.
While Jackie today remains iconic, her sister Lee is less well-known. It is impossible however, to truly understand the life of one without the other.
WIKIPEDIA: Lee Radziwill, née Lee Bouvier, Jackie Kennedy’s sister, died in 2019 at the age of 85 »
