When Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and Lee Radziwill exchanged Christmas presents in 1996, there was a surprise in store for the stylish wife of John F. Kennedy Jr. Carolyn gave Lee — the sister of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and her aunt by marriage — a gorgeous Hermès blanket. In return, Radziwill gifted her with a drugstore purchase.
“It was plastic Goody hair clips and scrunchies from the drug store,” recalls RoseMarie Terenzio, who was JFK Jr.’s personal assistant and a close friend of both he and Carolyn.
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Terenzio told the story of the two’s memorable gift exchange on Tuesday, Dec. 10 in New York City during a holiday shopping and book party at Lafayette 148 for JFK JR: An Intimate Oral Biography. The conversation between Terenzio and coauthor Liz McNeil, who also serves as an editor-at-large at PEOPLE, was moderated by Gina Gershon, who befriended John after the two met through their involvement in Naked Angels, the downtown theater troupe.
“Carolyn loved Lee,” says Terenzio. But John had not wanted to invite his aunt to their very private — and top secret — wedding on Cumberland Island, off the coast of Georgia, earlier that year, on Sept. 21.
“I think part of the reason why John didn’t invite Lee to the wedding was because he knew she would not abide by their wishes to keep it quiet — and she’d probably blow the whole thing,” Terenzio says. “But Carolyn would say, ‘How could you not invite your mom’s sister?’ ”
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“The funny thing is, when Christmas came, they exchanged gifts, Carolyn gave her an Hermès blanket — I’m sure it cost a few thousand dollars — and Carolyn opened her gift and it was a box of hair clips from Duane Reade,” she continues. “It was plastic hair clips, Goody hair clips and scrunchies but they were all in a box and beautifully wrapped.”
As Terenzio recalls, “Carolyn said, ‘I actually think this is hysterical.’ She thought Lee was a badass. She thought it was genius.”
“Carolyn was like, ‘You know what that was, don’t you honey? That was like, ‘F— you for not inviting me to your wedding.’ That was like, ‘How dare you,’ ” Terenzio says, explaining, “Because I’m sure Lee, who was all about appearances, was embarrassed that she wasn’t invited to John’s wedding. But in the end, Carolyn got a big kick out of Lee.”
