Ethel Kennedy and RFK Were Married for 18 Years. Here's the Story of Their Romance — and Why She Never Remarried After His Death

Mar. 15, 2025

Robert F. Kennedy and his wife, Ethel, wave from the plane as they embark on a 26-day goodwill tour to Japan, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, the Netherlands and West Berlin.Photo:Bettmann/Getty Images

Bettmann/Getty Images

Robert F. KennedyandEthel Kennedyspent their 18 years of marriage fighting for human rights and raising 11 children together.

The former U.S. attorney general was assassinated in 1968, leaving Ethel a widow, pregnant with their 11th child, Rory. Ethel went on to uphold the Kennedy family legacy and enduredgreat personal tragedy, including the deaths of multiple members of her family.

The human rights activistdied on Oct. 10, 2024, at 96 years old fromcomplications related to a stroke, her daughter, Kerry, confirmed in a statement onX(formerly Twitter).

Ethel and Robert first met in 1945 while they were in college, though the politician first dated her sister, Patricia Skakel, for two years before they began going out. By 1950, the couple were married.

“We both wanted a lot of children, but there wasn’t a huge discussion about it,” Ethel told PEOPLE in 2012. “It wasn’t a big deal. We were both from big families.”

From how they met to the 11 children they welcomed together, here’s everything to know about Ethel and Robert F. Kennedy’s relationship.

Ethel and Robert first met when she was in college

Robert F. Kennedy and his wife, Ethel Kennedy, sit and talk in June 1957.Bettmann/Getty Images

Ethel was just 17 years old when she met her future husband, the brother of her roommate at Manhattanville College in 1945. In a 2012 interview with PEOPLE, the Kennedy matriarch shared that she knew she’d marry Robert “as soon as [I] met him” on a ski trip in Quebec.

“No maybe about it,” she said.

However, she had to bide her time as the future senator dated her sister, Patricia, for two years. After their breakup, Ethel and Robert began dating and were soon engaged.

They got married in 1950

Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy at their wedding on June 17, 1950.Bettmann/Getty Images

Ethel and Robert got engaged in early 1950 and got married on June 17, 1950, at St. Mary Roman Catholic Church in Greenwich, Conn. At the reception, all the bridesmaids were thrown into a pool and theBoston Globelauded the ceremony as the “prettiest of the year.”

The young couple honeymooned in Hawaii and soon settled in Virginia, where Robert was set to attend the University of Virginia School of Law.

By 1956, the couple and their young family moved into Hickory Hill, their iconic 13-bedroom home in McLean, Va.

Their relationship inspired a Taylor Swift song

Ethel Kennedy and Taylor Swift attend the ‘Ethel’ premiere at the MARC Theatre during the Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 20, 2012 in Park City, Utah.Jonathan Leibson/Getty Images/C Flanigan/FilmMagic

Jonathan Leibson/Getty Images/C Flanigan/FilmMagic

In the bridge of the song, she continues, “Ooh, ooh, he’s talking crazy / Ooh, ooh, dancing with me / Ooh, ooh, we could get married / Have ten kids and teach ‘em how to dream,” referencing the 11 kids the couple ultimately shared.

The inspiration for the song came from a photo Swift saw of the two dancing.

“It immediately made me think of like how much fun they must have had that night. It was back in the late ’40s,” she said. “I ended up reading underneath that it was Ethel Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy … So I just kind of wrote that song from that place, not really knowing how they met or anything like that.”

They welcomed 11 children together

Robert Kennedy Jr., Jean Kennedy- Smith, Ethel Kennedy, Rory Kennedy, Mark Bailey, Conor Kennedy and members of the Kennedy family attend the “Ethel” premiere on Oct. 15, 2012 in New York City.Cindy Ord/FilmMagic/Getty Images

Cindy Ord/FilmMagic/Getty Images

The Kennedys’ first child, Kathleen, was born on July 4, 1951, and they went on to welcome 10 more children after her: Joseph,Robert Jr., David, Courtney, Michael, Kerry, Christopher, Max, Douglas and Rory.

Ethel was pregnant with Rory when Robert was assassinated, giving birth to their youngest child six months after his death. Some of the couple’s children went on to follow in their father’s footsteps with careers in politics, most notably Robert Jr., whodropped out of the 2024 presidential electionin August 2024. Kathleen was Maryland’s lieutenant governor, while Joseph served in Congress.

When asked how she got through the pain, Ethel told PEOPLE in 2012, “I pretty well lived in the moment. And I was blessed with faith.”

Ethel supported John and Robert’s presidential runs

Robert F. Kennedy addresses a cheering crowd at campaign headquarters following the Indiana primary victory, with his wife Ethel, in May 1968.Bettmann/Getty Images

In February 1962, Ethel joined her husband on a worldwide trip with stops in Japan, Hong Kong and Italy so that people across the globe could meet what she described as normal Americans.

“People have a distinct liking for Americans,” she told theWashington Postin 1962. “It is good for Americans to travel and get our viewpoint across.”

She was present the night he was assassinated

Robert F. Kennedy and his wife, Ethel, at the U.S. Supreme Court in January 1963.

“I’d wake up in the morning and think he was happy in heaven and he had Jack — and they were together as they had been together on earth,” she said. “I didn’t think how I would survive. I knew it would happen but I didn’t know how.”

Though she’d been spotted in the years since with various men, Ethel vowed to never remarry or have another serious relationship out of respect to Robert’s memory.

Ethel started a foundation in his honor

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Ethel Kennedy, Kerry Kennedy, and Mariah Kennedy Cuomo attend the 2013 Ripple of Hope Awards Dinner on Dec. 11, 2013 in N.Y.C.Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images

Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images

For the five decades after her husband’s death, Ethel remained active in social issues that were important to her and her husband such as the rights of migrant workers and care for the environment.

Now, her daughter Kerry runs the foundation, but up until her death, Ethel was passionate about carrying on Robert’s legacy and raising their 11 children.

“She’s committed to carry out the ideals that inspired my father to taking care of the family and to creating a warm and loving place,” Kathleen told theWashington Postin 1981.

source: people.com