Ted Kennedy's First Wife Joan Kennedy: Casualty of Camelot

Sen. Kennedy's Ex-Wife Battled Alcohol, Infidelities, Being a Political Wife to Family Dynasty

By SUSAN DONALDSON JAMES

In 2005, Boston police found a disoriented woman lying bleeding and alone on a Beacon Hill sidewalk after she had taken a drunken fall.

Joan Kennedy -- the first wife of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy -- was unrecognizable to the Good Samaritan who had helped her that rainy night.

The woman who called the ambulance later told Boston Magazine, "I had no idea who it was, that it was anything special."

Today, at 72 and living independently after struggling with a lifelong alcohol addiction, the mother of Kennedy's three children is still invisible as the world mourns the passing of the senator.

Trying "not to intrude" yet to honor the life of her ex-husband, Joan Kennedy attended the Thursday mass in the "big house" at the Kennedy compound, according to her sister Candace McMurrey of Houston, Texas.

"She feels it's very nice to be included in the final saying goodbye to him and she appreciates being included in that, because she was married to him for 25 years," McMurrey told ABCNews.com.

While her ex-husband fought a brain tumor at the Kennedy compound this summer, the once-striking blond who in the heyday of her beauty resembled "Mad Men's" lovely and lonely Betty Draper, rented the nearby home on Squaw Island that once belonged to her own wealthy family.

"She is a very private person and she been sort of victimized by the press who never let her alone," said another Bennett family member, who has remained close to Joan Kennedy over the years.

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http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/TedKennedy/Story?id=8428638&page=1

if she's at the Irish Wake tonight. I've always felt she got cheated in life.

know if she's there tonight.

Joan Kennedy, ex-wife of U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy, is escorted by her nephew Douglas Kennedy, son of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. , as she leaves the Kennedy compound

From http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x8614183

I, too, wondered about her. According to Wikipedia, she had to have her sons being guardians of her estate. Really sad.

drinking again. I'm so sorry to hear that.

I read a biography of her (again, years and years ago, which is where I read she was sober) and it couldn't have been easy for her being in the Kennedy clan. I don't think she had the strength of Jackie.

since 2005, I believe.

It said her kids intervened. Also, apparently her family has been plagued by addiction for a few generations. :(

couple days ago. Had to be locked, due to all the slams.

If anyone here could do better with the trials of this family, I haven't seen em'.

I always felt badly for her. Marrying into the Kennedy family wasn't always easy.