Marriage to RFK Jr and his ‘lust demons’: the tragic life and death of Mary Richardson Kennedy

When a young Robert F Kennedy Jr first caught the eye of Mary Richardson, she was smitten by him — but her marriage to the future presidential hopeful was far removed from a fairy tale

Mary Richardson Kennedy and Robert F Kennedy Jr in 2001. Photo: Ron Galella via Getty

Maureen Callahan

All her life, she had wanted only one thing: to be a Kennedy. Mary Richardson had been starstruck by the whole family, but no one more so than Robert F Kennedy Jr, son of the martyred Bobby Kennedy and nephew of the late JFK. Bobby was an alpha Kennedy, and she had won him.

For a time, anyway. The gorgeous, smart, talented Mary Richardson Kennedy — mother of four, married to the most famous Kennedy man aside from JFK Jr, living in a million-dollar house she’d redesigned in the wealthy suburb of Bedford, New York, a woman everyone wanted at their charity galas and dinner parties — was now on the verge of losing everything.