The bad blood between relatives of Mary Richardson Kennedy and the Kennedy clan were put aside this evening — as Robert Kennedy’s brother and sister paid their respects at a private Manhattan memorial organized by her family.
Max Kennedy, Robert’s youngest brother, and Kerry Kennedy, a friend of Mary’s since they were teenagers, were among the close-knit group of family and friends who gathered at the sundown ceremony on the 18th floor of the Meatpacking District’s Standard Hotel.
Mary Kennedy, the estranged wife of Robert Kennedy Jr., hanged herself in a barn at her Bedford home last week at the age of 52.
Friends said the event — held in the hotel’s Gold Room, formerly known as the “Boom Boom” room — was a celebration of the life of the spirited, generous woman.
“When she walked into a room, it tilted in her direction,” said actress Karen Duffy, one of the event’s organizers.
“Sometimes in life, you stop making friends. Mary never stopped charming people.
“If I could build my own Mount Rushmore it would be Mary and Mother Teresa,” Duffy said.
“I think it was one of the most amazing memorials I’ve ever been to in terms of the level of affection,” said Linda Crowley, an editor at Town & Country magazine.
Mourners were handed a memorial card which featured on the front a picture of a smiling Mary above the phrase, “In Celebration of her Radiant Life.”
They were instructed that donations in her name should go to the Putney School, a progressive high school in Vermont.
On the back was the poem, “Death is Nothing at All,” by Henry Scott Holland.
As the friends and family gathered at the Standard for the two-hour service, slideshows of Mary’s life were played in the background. Mary’s yoga instructor led them in a meditation.
“It was totally positive, celebrating her generosity, her spirit, celebrating her with a lot of love,” said one woman who did not want to give her name.
Mary’s brothers and sisters — including Joan, who works for Standard owner Andre Balasz — planned the event in the wake of last week’s bitter court battle with Robert over where she would be buried.
Sources said the dispute was resolved after both sides let the Kennedy’s children decide their mom’s final resting place.
Mary’s relatives did not invite Robert Kennedy to the gathering at the Standard.
He and his estranged wife’s family, led by Mary’s lawyer brother, Thomas Richardson, duked it out in court over her remains just hours before her wake last Friday.
Mary’s four kids also weren’t at the Manhattan service.
Instead, said a family friend, Conor, 18, Kyra, 17, Finn, 15 and Aiden, 11, were headed to Florida with their father.
Additional reporting by Emily Smith, Jeane MacIntosh and Lorena Mongelli