Lee Radziwill: The Life Behind Her Famous Name

Introduction

Lee Radziwill spent much of her life beside famous names.

Yet she had her own story.

Born Caroline Lee Bouvier, she was the younger sister of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. That family connection followed her everywhere. Still, Lee built a public identity through fashion, interior design, writing, society life, and a short attempt at acting.

She knew presidents and artists. Designers became friends. Her homes appeared in major magazines.

And honestly, style became her strongest calling card.

Quick Facts About Lee Radziwill

Fact	Details
Full birth name	Caroline Lee Bouvier
Known as	Lee Radziwill
Born	March 3, 1933
Birthplace	Manhattan, New York City, United States
Died	February 15, 2019
Age at death	85
Place of death	Manhattan, New York City
Nationality	American
Father	John Vernou Bouvier III
Mother	Janet Norton Lee Bouvier
Sister	Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Children	Anthony Radziwill and Anna Christina “Tina” Radziwill
First husband	Michael Temple Canfield
Second husband	Stanisław Albrecht Radziwiłł
Third husband	Herbert Ross
Known for	Fashion, interior design, writing, society life
Major honour	Chevalier of the French Légion d’honneur

Early Life

Caroline Lee Bouvier was born on March 3, 1933, in Manhattan.

Her family called her Lee.

Her father, John Vernou Bouvier III, worked as a stockbroker. He was commonly known as “Black Jack” Bouvier. Her mother was Janet Norton Lee Bouvier.

Lee had one older sister.

That sister was Jacqueline Bouvier, born in 1929.

Jacqueline later married John F. Kennedy and became First Lady of the United States. Because of that, the Bouvier family became tied to one of America’s most closely watched political families.

Lee’s parents divorced while she was young.

Her mother later married businessman Hugh D. Auchincloss Jr. in 1942. The marriage brought Lee and Jacqueline into another wealthy East Coast family circle.

Their childhood included time around New York, Rhode Island, Virginia, and other places connected with their extended family.

It was a privileged upbringing.

Still, family relationships could be complicated.

Lee Radziwill and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

Lee and Jacqueline shared a bond that lasted through most of their lives.

They travelled together. They mixed in the same social circles. They also lived under constant comparison.

That part mattered.

Jacqueline became one of the world’s most famous women after John F. Kennedy entered the White House. Lee was regularly introduced through her sister’s name, even while trying to build a life of her own.

Reports and later interviews describe both closeness and tension between them.

That seems fair.

Their relationship cannot be reduced to one simple label.

Lee later made it clear that she disliked being treated only as Jacqueline Kennedy’s younger sister.

She wanted her own identity.

Education

Lee attended Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, Connecticut.

She graduated in 1950.

She later enrolled at Sarah Lawrence College in New York.

But she did not complete a degree there.

Major obituary reporting says Lee left college before graduating and travelled to Italy, where she studied art.

This detail matters because some online profiles incorrectly list her as a Sarah Lawrence graduate.

She was not.

Early Interest in Fashion

Fashion entered Lee’s life early.

She moved in circles where clothes, art, houses, and presentation mattered a lot. She also gained early experience around fashion publishing.

Accounts of her early career connect her with Harper’s Bazaar and influential fashion editor Diana Vreeland.

That exposure stayed with her.

Lee eventually became known for a clean, polished look.

No need for excess.

Sharp tailoring often did the work.

The 1951 European Trip

One of Lee’s best-known early experiences happened in 1951.

She travelled through Europe with Jacqueline.

The sisters kept drawings, notes, observations, and photographs from the journey.

They originally made the material into a scrapbook for their parents.

Years later, that work became the book One Special Summer.

The book was commercially published in 1974 and credited to both sisters.

It gives readers a rare look at Lee and Jacqueline before politics changed their lives.

They were simply two young women travelling.

That feels very different.

First Marriage to Michael Temple Canfield

Lee married Michael Temple Canfield on April 18, 1953.

She was 20.

Canfield worked in publishing and had links to the Harper publishing world.

The wedding took place at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Washington, D.C.

That same year, Lee served as matron of honor at Jacqueline Bouvier’s wedding to John F. Kennedy.

Lee and Canfield later lived in London.

Their marriage did not last.

They divorced in 1958.

The marriage produced no children.

Marriage to Stanisław Albrecht Radziwiłł

Lee married Stanisław Albrecht Radziwiłł in March 1959.

He was a Polish-born aristocrat.

Through the marriage, she became widely known as Princess Lee Radziwill.

The name stuck.

Even after the marriage ended, “Lee Radziwill” remained the name most people associated with her.

The couple spent much of their life in Britain and Europe.

Their homes attracted attention too.

Lee cared deeply about rooms, furniture, fabrics, art, and old European design.

That interest would later become professional work.

Lee Radziwill’s Children

Lee and Stanisław had two children.

Their son was Anthony Stanisław Albert Radziwill.

He was born in 1959.

Anthony later worked as a television producer and earned recognition for his work in broadcasting.

He married journalist Carole Radziwill.

Anthony faced cancer for several years and died in August 1999.

He was 40.

It was a devastating loss for Lee.

Her daughter, Anna Christina Radziwill, commonly known as Tina, was born in 1960.

Tina generally kept a much lower public profile than many members of the extended Bouvier and Kennedy families.

Lee and Stanisław Radziwiłł divorced in 1974.

Connection to the Kennedy White House

Lee never held a government position.

Still, she was close to the Kennedy White House because of her sister.

She attended social events and moved around people connected with John F. Kennedy’s presidency.

One major trip came in 1962.

Lee accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy on her official visit to India and Pakistan.

The trip attracted major international press coverage.

The sisters visited historic sites, attended formal events, and met political leaders.

Lee was there beside the First Lady through much of the journey.

It became one of the most photographed periods of their adult relationship.

A Short Acting Career

Lee also tried acting.

Seriously.

During the 1960s, she took acting lessons and pursued professional stage work.

In 1967, she appeared as Tracy Lord in a Chicago production of The Philadelphia Story.

Reviews were poor.

A television appearance followed.

Lee played the title character in a television adaptation of Laura.

That attempt received weak critical response too.

So acting ended fairly quickly.

She moved on.

Her Link to Grey Gardens

Lee has an interesting place in the history of Grey Gardens.

The famous East Hampton house belonged to her aunt Edith “Big Edie” Bouvier Beale and cousin Edith “Little Edie” Bouvier Beale.

By the early 1970s, the house had fallen into severe disrepair.

Lee and Jacqueline became involved as concern grew around the property and the two women living there.

Lee later started work on a film project about the Bouvier family.

Photographer Peter Beard was involved, along with filmmakers Albert and David Maysles.

The original project never became the film Lee planned.

But the Maysles brothers became fascinated by Big Edie and Little Edie.

That interest eventually led to the famous 1975 documentary Grey Gardens.

Decades later, footage tied to Lee’s abandoned project appeared in the 2017 documentary That Summer.

It is a fascinating side chapter.

Interior Design Career

Interior design suited Lee much better than acting.

She had spent years decorating her own homes.

Friends noticed.

So did magazines.

In 1976, she set up Lee Radziwill Inc., an interior-design business.

Her work included commercial and private projects.

Architectural Digest later documented several of her interiors and discussed her personal approach to decorating.

She liked rooms with character.

Old furniture worked beside newer pieces.

Books, art, fabrics, rugs, and personal objects were part of the mix.

Her spaces rarely looked empty.

They felt lived in.

Lee once explained that she often started a room with the rug, then worked from there.

It was simple. But smart.

Work With Giorgio Armani

Lee later worked professionally in fashion.

She joined Giorgio Armani in a public-relations role during the 1980s.

She remained connected with the company into the early 1990s.

This job was a natural fit.

Lee already knew designers, editors, artists, actors, and wealthy international clients.

She also understood presentation.

And she knew clothes.

Her connection with Armani gave her a formal place inside the fashion business rather than leaving her known only as a society figure who wore designer clothing.

Marriage to Herbert Ross

Lee married for a third time in 1988.

Her husband was Herbert Ross.

Ross was a well-known American film director and choreographer whose credits included The Goodbye Girl, The Turning Point, and Steel Magnolias.

They married in Manhattan.

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis hosted a dinner connected with the wedding.

The marriage later broke down.

Lee and Ross divorced in 2001.

Ross died later that year.

After the marriage ended, Lee again used Radziwill as her surname.

Truman Capote and Famous Friends

Lee moved through some remarkable social circles.

Writer Truman Capote was among her closest and most famous friends.

Capote surrounded himself with stylish society women whom the press later called his “swans.”

Lee was part of that group.

Her wider circle included people from art, fashion, dance, publishing, film, and society.

Names linked with her social world included Andy Warhol, Rudolf Nureyev, Peter Beard, and Gloria Steinem.

She lived close to culture.

Actually, that was normal for her.

Lee Radziwill’s Fashion Style

Lee became a serious fashion reference.

Her clothing often looked simple from a distance.

The details mattered more.

Clean lines.

Strong coats.

Well-cut trousers.

Elegant evening clothes.

She wore major designers, including Giorgio Armani and Yves Saint Laurent.

In 1996, she entered the International Best-Dressed List Hall of Fame.

That recognition suited her public image.

Even in her later years, fashion magazines kept photographing and discussing her style.

Her influence lasted.

Designer Tory Burch later named a handbag line after Lee Radziwill.

The bags remain closely linked with her name and polished aesthetic.

Books by Lee Radziwill

Lee was involved with several published books.

One Special Summer

One Special Summer came from the European trip she took with Jacqueline in 1951.

The sisters filled it with drawings and personal observations.

It was published for a wider audience in 1974.

Happy Times

Lee later published Happy Times.

The book used photographs and personal memories rather than following the structure of a standard tell-all memoir.

The title says a lot.

She focused heavily on positive memories.

Lee

Assouline published Lee in 2015.

The book combined photographs and recollections from her life.

Friends such as Truman Capote and Rudolf Nureyev appeared within its pages.

She never published the kind of deeply revealing conventional memoir that readers may have expected from someone so close to the Kennedy family.

Légion d’honneur

France honoured Lee Radziwill in 2008.

She was appointed a Chevalier of the Légion d’honneur.

It is one of France’s major national distinctions.

The official French decree listed her under the name Lee Radziwill-Bouvier.

The award recognized her years of professional and charitable activity.

The honour also reflected her long relationship with France.

Paris had been part of her life for decades.

Family Losses

Lee experienced painful losses later in life.

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis died in 1994.

Then came 1999.

Her nephew John F. Kennedy Jr. died in a plane crash in July of that year.

Only weeks later, Lee’s son Anthony died from cancer.

He was just 40.

Those events hit the family within a very short period.

Lee rarely turned her grief into public spectacle.

She remained fairly guarded about the most painful parts of her private life.

Later Years

Lee spent much of her later life between New York and Paris.

She stayed connected with fashion and cultural circles.

Magazines still wanted her photographs.

Design writers still wanted to see her homes.

And younger fashion figures kept citing her as an influence.

She did not disappear from public life.

She simply became more selective.

One of her late interviews showed a woman still interested in art, books, beauty, friendship, and memory.

Death

Lee Radziwill died on February 15, 2019.

She was 85.

She died at her Manhattan home.

Her daughter said the death was from natural causes.

Lee was only weeks away from her 86th birthday.

Her funeral Mass took place later that month at the Church of St. Thomas More in Manhattan.

Family, friends, and people from fashion and cultural circles attended.

Lee Radziwill’s Collection

After her death, Christie’s offered items from her collection.

The sale included furniture, decorative pieces, art, and objects connected with her homes.

For people interested in design, the collection said a lot.

Lee did not simply buy expensive things.

She mixed objects.

She kept personal pieces.

She built rooms slowly.

That same taste had helped make her homes famous decades earlier.

Lee Radziwill in Feud: Capote vs. The Swans

Interest in Lee continued years after her death.

In 2024, actress Calista Flockhart portrayed her in the FX series Feud: Capote vs. The Swans.

The series focused on Truman Capote and his relationships with wealthy women in New York society.

Still, it is a drama.

It should not be treated as a documentary record of Lee’s private conversations or relationships.

Lee Radziwill’s Lasting Legacy

Lee Radziwill spent decades trying to exist outside somebody else’s shadow.

That was not easy.

Her sister was Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

Her brother-in-law became president.

Her family was followed by newspapers around the world.

Yet Lee kept working at a separate identity.

She tried acting. It failed.

She worked in design. That fit.

She entered fashion professionally, published books, built beautiful homes, travelled widely, and became known for a style that still gets referenced years after her death.

That is the part worth remembering.

Her name came from a famous family.

Her taste became her own.

Final Thought

Lee Radziwill’s life mixed privilege with pressure.

She lived beside major figures in politics, fashion, art, and film, but she never seemed fully comfortable being defined by other people.

Her strongest work came through taste.

Clothes. Rooms. Books. Images.

She had a sharp eye.

And that eye became her legacy.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who was Lee Radziwill?

Lee Radziwill was an American social figure, interior designer, writer, fashion figure, and former actress. She was also the younger sister of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

What was Lee Radziwill’s real name?

Her birth name was Caroline Lee Bouvier.

When was Lee Radziwill born?

She was born on March 3, 1933, in Manhattan, New York City.

Who were Lee Radziwill’s husbands?

She married Michael Temple Canfield, Stanisław Albrecht Radziwiłł, and film director Herbert Ross.

Did Lee Radziwill have children?

Yes. She had two children with Stanisław Radziwiłł: Anthony Radziwill and Anna Christina “Tina” Radziwill.

Was Lee Radziwill an actress?

Yes, briefly. She appeared in a stage production of The Philadelphia Story and later in a television adaptation of Laura. Her acting career was short.

What did Lee Radziwill do for work?

She worked in interior design, fashion public relations, publishing-related roles, writing, and acting. She also created Lee Radziwill Inc., an interior-design company.

When did Lee Radziwill die?

She died on February 15, 2019, in Manhattan at age 85.