Jerry Oppenheimer is a New York Times bestselling author whose books include Ethel The Other Mrs. Kennedy. Ethel Skakel Kennedy, An American Drama of Power, Privilege, and Politics.
For decades the sprawling historic estate across the Potomac River known as Hickory Hill was the home of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, his sprightly wife, Ethel, and their brood of ten raucous children.
That number would grow to 11 when Ethel gave birth to Rory, six months after RFKs assassination.
And it was in the wake of that murder, while on the presidential campaign trail in June 1968, life for his widow Ethel took a dark and often violent turn.
Ethel, who died last Thursday at 96, never remarried and was considered more Kennedy than any Kennedy. As a staunch Roman Catholic, she believed that her beloved husband Joe was in heaven and that she would one day join him.
For those who were her servants and assistants – even her sons, and especially recent presidential candidate Bobby Jr. – Hickory Hill was privately known as Horror Hill, as documented in my biography of Ethel The Other Mrs. Kennedy.
After her husband died, Ethel Kennedy had to deal with a growing family. They visited RFKs grave in Arlington National Cemetery on what would have been his 47th birthday in 1971 with Bobbys brother Ted
Bobby became a falconer, but also had a giant turtle called Carruthers living in Hickory Hill
The younger generation of Kennedys such as Michaela Kennedy Cuomo were not around to experience Ethels Horror Hill
Staff members, many on the record, revealed that Ethel had a deep reservoir of uncontrolled anger. [She was] always annoyed, exasperated and infuriated, [both] emotionally and physically.
They unveiled that Hickory Hill had become a disturbing and troublesome place because of the widows strange behavior and moods.
According to their experiences – assaulted by Ethels sudden onslaughts of denigrating comments and criticisms – they often consulted doctors and psychiatrists with real and imagined stomach problems, and one was said to have required life saving hospitalization.
In one of the more shocking incidents, Bobbys one-time brother-in-law, the actor Peter Lawford, was visiting on a rare occasion.
Sitting in the kitchen, nursing a cup of coffee and chatting with Ethel, he idly watched as a newly hired black maid went about her job. She was picking up various scraps of paper, including notes Sen. Kennedy had jotted years earlier that Ethel had never bothered to sort away.
Peter Lawford with Ethel. The actor claimed she slapped a black maid who was tidying up at Hickory Hill when she unwittingly went to throw out some of RFKs papers
Ethel on her wedding day in 1950. A little over a year later, Kathleen, the oldest of her 11 children was born
When Ethel got in bad moods, she didnt jump out of them, according to her assistant Noelle Fell said
The maid was heading toward the trash can when Ethel, standing by the kitchen door watching, saw that she was about to toss the trash.
As Lawford later recounted, Ethel screeched, What are you doing? The frightened maid, Im throwing this away, Mrs. Kennedy, and Ethel said, You stupid [N word], dont you know what youre doing?
Youre destroying history, Get out of my sight. Youre fired!
The woman fled in shock.
On his return to California, disgusted by what he had witnessed, Lawford told his new wife, Patricia.
Peter was very upset. He had been very much into the civil rights movement, and he hated what Ethel had said. He felt for the woman who was dismissed by Ethel that very day.
Over the years he had seen a lot of self-righteous behavior in Ethel, Patricia said.
To others I interviewed about the shocking incident and her use of the N word, it seemed incomprehensible that Ethel, who counted Coretta King, Rafer Johnson and Cesar Chavez among her friends, would shout a racial epithet. Especially not in light of RFKs public stance on race and her devotion to his philosophies.
One of Ethels trusted assistants, Noelle Fell, told me that she never heard her boss use the slur, but she would say things like Those black people are stupid.
I really dont think she liked blacks or Hispanics. She couldnt stand it if they couldnt speak English well or understand it. Ethel would say something once and she didnt like to repeat herself.
Bobbys was consoled by brother-in-law Ted at Bobbys funeral, Her husbands assassination in 1968 meant Ethel had to face bringing up their growing family together
Ethel once slapped a maid for bringing her sanitary napkins instead of face cream, Fell claimed
![Staff members, many on the record, revealed that Ethel had a deep reservoir of uncontrolled anger. [She was] always annoyed, exasperated and infuriated, [both] emotionally and physically](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/10/15/15/90623623-13959083-Staff_members_many_on_the_record_revealed_that_Ethel_had_a_deep_-a-43_1729002330121.jpg)
Staff members, many on the record, revealed that Ethel had a deep reservoir of uncontrolled anger. [She was] always annoyed, exasperated and infuriated, [both] emotionally and physically
The ever-growing Kennedy clan. Former US Representative Joe Kennedy posted this picture from Ethels 96th and final birthday on April 11
Once leaving to go on trip, Ethel had asked one of the maids to bring her a jar of face cream...and it had to be right away. Misunderstanding, she brought sanitary napkins.
According to Noelle Fell, who was in the room, furious Ethel screamed thats not what I asked for, and hit her in the face,
She just slapped her.
The maid ran out in tears, followed by Fell who told her, She should never have slapped you. Let me talk to her, but the injured woman was adamant and said, Im never going to work here again no one has ever slapped me.
The woman stormed out of the hose, and Fell raced upstairs to confront Ethel, who was still furious. When she got in bad moods, she didnt jump out of them.
There was other bizarre behavior, such as infuriating public servants.
When she was ticketed for pulling into a no parking spot, Ethel raced back to her convertible and tore up the ticket in front of the shocked officer.
When she got home, she was ranting and raving that she wasnt going to pay the fine. The angry Kennedy widow was given a summons to appear in court.
She never showed, pleaded not guilty, was convicted and fined $31.25.
When her mother-in-law, Rose, the Kennedy matriarch was told what happened, she responded, there was always some kind of problem with Ethel.
On another occasion, she refused to pay a cab driver a $12 fare claiming he ripped her off, and when he complained in broken English she hauled off and slapped him in the face.
The poor man was flabbergasted, according to an eyewitness. She hurt him. His face was red, his mouth was open. An assistant stepped in and paid the fare, but Ethel was furious when I told her I paid him, the assistant recalled.
According to my sources, most of the people who came to work for Ethel were charmed initially, by the Kennedy mystique.
But, as one noted: nce the employee realized what they had gotten themselves into, many were willing to sacrifice their self-respect and their health just to have a little taste of what remained of Camelot.
There was another downside to working at Hickory Hill – the odor.
When the kids were still young, the interior of the house became a smelly mess and even an eyesore because of the multitude of pets that roamed freely, urinating and defecating on the furnishings.
Dogs defecated under the dining room table, one of Ethels assistants recalled. No one would dare say anything to Mrs. Kennedy, who would try to cover up the mess with her foot.
But everyone could smell it. Id think, oh, my God.
A rug – a gift from the Shah of Iran – was so covered with urine that it had to be tossed in the basement.
There was even poop from the turtle Carruthers on the rugs, recalled a frequent visitor. Bobby Jr had brought the giant turtle home with him from a trip to Kenya.
When the turtle died he put it into cryonic suspension in a basement fridge in the hope of bringing it back to life at some future date.