Roxanne 
Carole Radziwill is reportedly facing criticism from members of the Kennedy family over her continued public association with the famous political dynasty, particularly as her return to The Real Housewives of New York City brings renewed attention to her late husband and his relatives.
According to a report published on October 19 by Rob Shuter’s Naughty But Nice Substack, unnamed sources claim some Kennedy relatives are frustrated with Carole repeatedly discussing her connection to the family and believe she has turned that relationship into part of her celebrity identity.
One source made a particularly harsh comment about the former journalist and reality star.
“She married into American royalty. But you cannot inherit class,” the insider claimed.
Carole, 63, married Anthony Radziwill in 1994. Anthony was the son of Lee Radziwill and the nephew of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, making him a cousin of John F. Kennedy Jr.
Through her marriage, Carole developed a close friendship with JFK Jr. and his wife, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy.
The four shared a close relationship during the 1990s, making the events of 1999 especially devastating for Carole.
In July of that year, JFK Jr., Carolyn and Carolyn’s sister Lauren Bessette died in a plane crash off Martha’s Vineyard.
Just weeks later, in August 1999, Carole lost her husband Anthony following his battle with cancer.
Carole later documented those devastating experiences in her 2005 memoir, What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship, and Love, which became a New York Times bestseller.
The book explored her marriage, Anthony’s illness and the unimaginable grief of losing three people close to her within such a short period.
Years later, Carole joined RHONY in Season 5, introducing a new audience to her personal history and her connection to the Kennedy family.
However, according to Shuter’s latest report, some relatives are reportedly growing tired of seeing the Kennedy name associated with Carole’s reality television career.
“The family wants distance from Carole,” one unnamed source alleged.
“They’re tired of seeing the Kennedy name dragged into another embarrassing headline. As far as some relatives are concerned, she’s a fame-hungry grifter who simply cannot walk away from the spotlight!”
Those are the source’s characterizations, not verified statements from an identified Kennedy family member.
The insider also suggested that Carole’s relationship with the family has become too closely connected to her public image.
“She turned a prestigious family connection into a celebrity brand,” the source claimed.
“But sharing a famous surname doesn’t mean the family has to embrace everything she does!”
Another comment attributed to the source was even more pointed.
“Enough is enough. They want privacy. Carole wants publicity. They want nothing to do with the circus.”
The allegations come as Carole returns to RHONY for Season 16 after leaving the franchise in 2018.
Her comeback has brought renewed attention to her personal life, particularly her friendships with JFK Jr. and Carolyn, whose relationship was recently dramatized in Ryan Murphy’s television series Love Story.
During the current RHONY season, Carole has found herself answering questions from her costars about the late couple and her memories of them.
Carole previously admitted that filming while Love Story was generating public interest brought back painful memories she had not expected to revisit.
Speaking to USA Today in September, Carole described the renewed attention as emotionally overwhelming.
“That show, really, it was like a body slam,” she said.
Although Carole did not watch the series, she explained that it was nearly impossible to avoid the conversations surrounding it.
“I didn’t watch it, but you couldn’t get away from it,” Carole shared.
“Martha Stewart watched it. The other women on the cast watched it and were curious about this and that.”
Carole admitted that answering questions about such a traumatic period was difficult, particularly because she had not intended to make those losses a major part of her RHONY storyline.
“It was very hard … I hadn’t planned on talking about it,” she explained.
“I wrote about it. I think people sometimes conflate talking and writing.”
Carole emphasized that she had already shared her account of that period through her memoir.
“What I had to say about that time in my life, I wrote in a book,” she said, referring to What Remains.
The journalist also explained that her late friends were much more than the public figures depicted in television dramatizations.
She remembered JFK Jr. and Carolyn as “wonderfully complex people” and admitted that discussing them brought back feelings of grief for both the couple and Anthony.
According to Carole, those emotions continued throughout much of filming.
“You’ll see the arc of that story throughout, I think, the whole season,” she said.
“Certainly, in the beginning, and then it comes up really big at the end, and that was completely unplanned.”
Carole’s RHONY return has also generated headlines surrounding her past social relationship with Ghislaine Maxwell.
During a recent episode, Sai De Silva questioned Carole about knowing Maxwell, who was convicted of crimes connected to Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse of minors.
Carole acknowledged knowing Maxwell socially through mutual friends in New York but maintained that she never knew Epstein and had no knowledge of his criminal activities.
The confrontation became especially emotional when Carole revealed that she had been sexually assaulted by a college professor when she was younger.
The renewed scrutiny surrounding Carole’s social connections has coincided with the latest claims about the Kennedy family’s feelings toward her.
However, Shuter’s report does not identify which relatives allegedly want distance from Carole, and it does not establish that the family collectively shares those views.
Carole has also not been quoted responding directly to the latest allegations.
