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Lee Radziwill, Style Icon and Jackie Kennedy Onassis' Younger Sister, Dead at 85

Lee Radziwill, Style Icon and Jackie Kennedy Onassis' Younger Sister, Dead at 85
Credit: Reg Burkett/Express/Getty Images

Rest in peace, Lee Radziwill. 

The style icon died on Friday, according to multiple reports. She was 85. 

Born Caroline Lee Bouvier, Radziwill was the younger sister of the late former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and sister-in-law of late President John F. Kennedy. The couple's daughter, Caroline, was named after Radziwill. 

"There were so many things I couldn’t do when my brother-in-law was president,” Radziwill told Vanity Fairin 2016. “Finally, I’m free.”

Radziwill had several careers over her lifetime. She spent a short time as an actress, promoted by Truman Capote but denounced by critics. She then became a successful interior designer -- though that also didn't last song. Radziwill seemed to find her footing in the fashion world, as a brand ambassador, public relations executive and special events coordinator for Giorgio Armani.

She was married three times, including to Polish aristocrat Prince Stanislaw Albrecht Radziwill from 1959 to 1974, with whom she had two children, Prince Anthony and Princess Anna Christina. During their marriage, she went by the name Princess Lee Radziwill. 

Radziwill (who was also married to publishing executive Michael Temple Canfield from 1953 to 1959 and film director Herbert Ross from 1988 to 2001) had many celebrity friends, including Andy Warhol. She also had connections to the The Real Housewives of New York City, as star Carole Radziwill was married to her son from 1994 until Anthony's death in 1999. 

The socialite gave few interviews towards the end of her life. In a 2013 interview with The New York Times, she opened up about regrets. “Regrets? I think everyone has regrets, and people who say they haven’t are either liars… or narcissists," she said. 

“There have been many things in my life to have regrets about, in the sense I wish I could have changed them, or somehow made them not happen. What I don’t have is envy," she continued. "I’m perfectly content at this time of my life. I’ve done so many fascinating things and the greatest joy is that I continue to do interesting things and meet fascinating people.”

“When I was young, I used to think that everyone should die at 70… but my closest friends, like Rudolf [Nureyev] and Andy [Warhol] and, to an extent, [Truman] Capote, let alone most of my close family… didn’t even reach that age," she added. "There is something to be said for being older, and memories.”

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