Both girls possess stunningly wide set eyes that are the basis for their great beauty. Pretty and ultra feminine with touches of pink and walls of toile, the homes seem almost simple compared to the Renzo Mongiardino masterpieces Radziwill once lived in. Now in her 70s and single, Radziwill leads a quiet life escaping to Paris when the stresses of New York get too much.
In the face of all these losses, how did Radziwill respond? She wrote a book, part-diary, part-scrapbook, called Happy Times where she reminisces about all the wonderful, great family events — the vacations, the holidays — her family had shared.
There is not one negative word in the memoir, no back-stabbing, no settling of scores. Instead the book is written with grace and class and shows a great strength. Four years younger than Jackie, Lee writes that she was attracted to the sea, while Jackie, the athletic one, was attracted to horses. They both attended boarding school and after Lee graduated, the two girls went off to Europe together, the first of many great adventures they would share. Jackie of course married the future president John Kennedy while Lee entered into a short marriage that ended in divorce a few years later.
In defense of her early ill-fated match, Radziwill says girls married young back then just to get their own apartment, something their mothers would never allow them to do while still single.
When time came to marry her second husband, the older, debonair Polish prince, Stanislaw Radziwill, they both obtained annulments for their first marriage, though the Prince was actually on his second! Two children soon followed, a boy Anthony and a girl Christina who perfectly matched their first cousins Caroline and John Kennedy.
