✦Kathleen 'Kick' Kennedy

Early Life and the London Years

Kathleen Agnes Kennedy was born on February 20, 1920, in Brookline, Massachusetts, the fourth child of Joseph and Rose Kennedy. Known universally as "Kick" for her irrepressible energy, she accompanied her family to England when her father became U.S. Ambassador in 1938 and quickly became a fixture of London's social elite. Charming, funny, and intellectually curious, she moved effortlessly through aristocratic circles and formed deep, lasting friendships with members of Britain's ruling class.

Wartime Service and Marriage to William Cavendish

When war broke out, Kick returned to the United States briefly but came back to England in 1943 to work for the American Red Cross. It was during this period that she rekindled her romance with William John Robert Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington and heir to the Duke of Devonshire.

Their marriage on May 6, 1944, was a source of profound conflict within the Kennedy family. William was Protestant; Kick was a devout Catholic marrying outside the Church in a civil ceremony. Rose Kennedy was reportedly devastated, and only her brother Joe Jr. attended the wedding. Four months later, William was killed by a German sniper in Belgium on September 10, 1944 — just weeks before Joe Jr.'s own death. Within a single summer, Kick had lost both her husband and her beloved oldest brother.

Later Life and Death in the Ardèche

Widowed at 24, Kick remained in England and eventually fell in love with Peter Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, a wealthy Irish peer who was also married. The relationship deepened the rift with her Catholic mother, who reportedly threatened to disown her.

On May 13, 1948, Kick and Fitzwilliam boarded a chartered de Havilland Dove aircraft in Paris en route to Cannes. The plane flew into a severe storm over the Ardèche region of southern France and crashed into the Cévennes mountains near Privas, killing all four people aboard. Kathleen Kennedy was 28 years old. She is buried at Chatsworth, the ancestral home of the Devonshire family, in Derbyshire, England.

How did Kathleen Kennedy die?

Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy died on May 13, 1948, in a chartered plane crash in the Ardèche mountains of southern France. She was traveling with Peter Fitzwilliam when their aircraft encountered a severe storm and went down near Privas, killing everyone on board.

Why was Kathleen Kennedy's marriage controversial?

Kathleen Kennedy married William Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington, in a civil ceremony in 1944. Because William was Protestant and the ceremony was outside the Catholic Church, the marriage caused a serious rift with her deeply religious mother, Rose Kennedy. Only her brother Joe Jr. attended the wedding.