Ugly truth about the Kennedy dynasty and the litany of women who've been destroyed at their hands. They're the closest thing America has to royalty, but a new scandal embroiling RFK Jr is just the latest to engulf the clan

There is lone 1 question for immoderate pistillate who gets progressive with a Kennedy man: What could you perchance beryllium thinking?

The latest specified ungraded to stone America involves the joined ­former statesmanlike campaigner Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Democratic party royalty turned Trump supporter) and Olivia Nuzzi (a glamorous, young prima newsman sent to screen him for New York Magazine).

Their respective partners person been blindsided by an alleged matter that was seemingly ne'er consummated but did reportedly impact immoderate ‘demure’ nude photographs sent by Nuzzi to Bobby Jr. via substance message.

On Friday, however, the New York Post published claims that the brace had besides engaged successful ‘FaceTime sex’.

Details of the alleged narration emerged immoderate 10 days agone erstwhile New York Magazine announced the 31-year-old newsman was connected permission pending an probe into her ­conduct.

Asked past week by Fox News whether helium had immoderate ‘regrets’ implicit the incident, 70-year-old Bobby replied bluntly: ‘I ne'er remark connected those benignant of stories.’

Yet it’s a communicative that has shaken the nexus of politics, media and Hollywood, breaking done the sound of the wildest statesmanlike election rhythm successful American history.

A communicative that erstwhile again raises the question of what tin perchance explicate the progressively bewildering allure of this dynasty, considering everything we know. And of whether this situation could yet augur the extremity of Camelot.

For answers, we person to spell backmost successful time. Women and girls historically bash not fare good with Kennedy men – beryllium they wives, girlfriends, mistresses, sisters oregon daughters.

Patriarch Joe Kennedy, a erstwhile US ambassador to Britain, was not lone politically and financially ruthless, helium was besides sexually deviant and violent.

Well earlier helium was president, John F. Kennedy would pass immoderate overnight guests of his sisters — galore of them teenagers — to fastener their chamber doors astatine the famed household compound successful Hyannis, Massachusetts. ‘The ambassador,’ JFK would say, ‘has a inclination to rotation astatine night.’

Some of these girls, specified arsenic ­Winston Churchill’s aboriginal daughter-in-law Pamela Harriman, were raped by Joe. Such atrocities were an unfastened concealed astatine the Hyannis compound – which became thing of a decease prima for women.

Joe’s wife, Rose, was ritually humiliated by the changeless beingness of his ­movie-star mistress, Gloria Swanson, astatine the meal table. He besides had a adjacent ­decade- agelong matter with his secretary, Janet Des Rosiers, which began erstwhile she was 24 and helium was 60.

‘I utilized to massage Joe’s scalp and cervix with Rose successful the surviving room,’ Des Rosiers said years later. ‘I don’t cognize what she thought her hubby was made of.’ Rose took refuge successful medicine pills.

A young JFK, meanwhile, was already evincing what would go manifest among generations of Kennedy men: a sinister incestuousness that would spot them each effort to furniture each ­other’s conquests.

When JFK was moving for ­president, Janet Des Rosiers joined his run and 1 time helium slipped her a note. ‘Don’t you think,’ helium wrote, ‘it’s astir clip you recovered maine attractive?’

In 1953, helium met the young ­Jacqueline Bouvier — a highly educated debutante from New York City, with the looks, charm and sophistication to match.

He was a 34-year-old US legislator and she a 24-year-old ‘inquiring photographer’ for the Washington Times Herald. She was truthful smitten that she dumped her fiancé, stockbroker John Husted.

Jackie ne'er uttered a word. She simply removed her engagement ring, slipped it into Husted’s suit pouch and walked away.

Jackie wanted Jack Kennedy – and the large beingness that was definite to travel – nary substance the cost.

She knew that helium was a playboy. So was her adored father, but Jackie hadn’t loved him immoderate less, either. Women of her presumption were bred to judge infidelity, and Jackie thought she could grip it.

She was wrong. There were truthful galore women. Among them Pamela Turnure, her ain White House property secretary; and Mimi Alford, a teenage intern who Jack had gotten drunk and had enactment with successful the First Lady’s furniture successful the White House portion she was away.

Mimi had been a virgin. ‘Short of screaming,’ she aboriginal wrote, ‘there was thing I could bash to get him disconnected of me.’

JFK had Mimi shuttled astir the state arsenic thing of a enactment toy, forcing her to spread up successful motels waiting to beryllium called up for service. In the White House pool, during 1 of his regular swims, helium pointed to his apical adjutant Dave ­Powers and said to Mimi: ‘Mr Powers looks a small tense. Would you instrumentality attraction of it?’

To her everlasting shame, Mimi made her mode to Dave, sitting astatine the articulator of the pool, and performed oral enactment connected him portion JFK watched.

Then determination was Marilyn Monroe. She was the biggest movie prima connected the planet, a enactment awesome desired by each red-blooded American male, and not lone was she having an matter with President Kennedy, she was besides having an matter with his brother, US Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.

Very fewer radical knew, but among those who did was ­Marilyn’s therapist, Dr Ralph Greenson. He was greatly alarmed by what the Kennedy brothers were doing to his patient, and wrote arsenic overmuch to a colleague.

‘Very destructive people,’ Greenson said of the 2 brothers.

And they were so doing sedate damage. With JFK having chopped disconnected connection with ­Marilyn aft she sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to him astatine Madison Square Garden successful May 1962 — practically announcing to each the satellite that she and the president of the United States were having an matter — Bobby had been near to crisis-manage Marilyn, who was present threatening to clasp a property league and archer the truth.

On August 4 that aforesaid year, Bobby paid a sojourn to Marilyn’s location successful LA. He did not cognize – nor did she – that the FBI and CIA had wiretapped Marilyn’s house. On these tapes, recovered decades later, Bobby tin beryllium heard yelling astatine Marilyn viciously.

‘Where is it?’ helium demanded. ‘Where the f*** is it?’ Next came the dependable of something, oregon someone, hitting the wall.

Marilyn was recovered dormant the adjacent morning, successful her ain bed, astatine the property of 36. Her ex-husband, the ­legendary shot subordinate Joe DiMaggio, was definite that the Kennedy brothers were, successful immoderate way, to blame.

‘I ever knew who killed Marilyn,’ helium aboriginal said. ‘But I didn’t privation to commencement a gyration successful this country.’

Jack and Bobby ne'er looked back. Why would they? Women had ever been disposable. Their begetter had made that clear, not conscionable with his philandering and raping but with the disappearance of their sister, Rosemary.

She was 23 years aged erstwhile she vanished, her sanction ne'er mentioned astatine location again.

It was lone aft Joe died successful 1969, astatine 81, that her siblings learned the truth: Joe had secretly, forcibly lobotomised Rosemary, leaving her with the intelligence and carnal capabilities of a two-year-old.

They were told that Joe, successful his desperation to hole Rosemary’s learning disabilities, had made a unspeakable but honorable mistake.

Not so. Joe, a Nazi sympathiser who had taken Rosemary to ­London arsenic his ‘companion’ portion serving arsenic ambassador, had apt been sexually abusing his daughter, whose progressively volatile outbursts threatened to exposure him. And truthful helium had her silenced and shipped crossed America to beryllium cared for by nurses and nuns.

Rosemary suffered a destiny worse than death.

The litany abounds: Mary Jo Kopechne, the 28-year-old adjutant who JFK’s younger brother, ­senator Ted Kennedy, near to dice successful 1969 aft his car veered disconnected a span and plunged into a pond connected Chappaquiddick Island.

Kopechne was live for hours, struggling to respire done a tiny aerial pocket, portion Ted made his escape, passing houses with lights on, wage phones and the occurrence department, earlier reaching his inn and going to sleep.

When, the adjacent morning, helium yet reported the mishap – aft showering, shaving and ­having a hearty meal – Mary Jo had been dormant for hours. She could person been saved.Carolyn Bessette, anointed ‘America’s Princess’ upon her matrimony to JFK Jr.

Pamela Kelley, a teenage miss who, 1 decennary later, was near paralysed for beingness by Joe Kennedy II (Bobby’s son), who recklessly rolled his Jeep successful Nantucket. The media called this Joe’s ‘mishap’ and helium walked with a $100 fine.

Carolyn Bessette, anointed ‘America’s Princess’ upon her matrimony to JFK Jr., lad of JFK and Jackie. He was the astir desired antheral successful the world, ostensibly the full package: gorgeous, wealthy, a aboriginal US president.

Truth was, JFK Jr. was dim, entitled and had a wont of bullying his girlfriends into risky stunts that astir outgo them their lives.

When helium crashed the level helium was piloting successful 1999, sidesplitting himself, Carolyn and her sister Lauren, it was Carolyn who was blamed. She was accused of being a cause addict, a shrew, a shallow viper who had fatally delayed take-off by getting a pedicure.

The ceremonial probe by the National Transportation Safety Board recovered that aviator mistake unsocial caused the crash: JFK Jr. did not person capable grooming to alert that night. He ignored aggregate warnings not to alert successful a thickening haze. He didn’t record a formation program and had chopped disconnected each connection with crushed control. In his hubris, helium astir crashed into a packed American Airlines jet.

But Carolyn was the scapegoat — conscionable arsenic her bully person Mary Richardson, 2nd woman of RFK Jr., would go a decennary later.

Mary had idolised the Kennedy family. She had been roommates with Bobby Jr’s sister Kerry astatine boarding school, and marrying him had been the culmination of a dream.

But successful 2012, aft 4 children and 18 years of marriage, Bobby wanted a divorce. Mary had reportedly discovered the interaction accusation of astatine slightest 43 rumoured mistresses successful his cellphone. She had besides recovered her husband’s ‘sex diaries’ — lists of women he’d had affairs with, including immoderate friends of Mary’s.

He had gone with Mary to spot her therapist, Dr Sheena Hankin, who specialised successful high-profile ­clients. Bobby asked Hankin to state Mary mentally ill.

Your woman isn’t mentally ill, Hankin told him. She is depressed and she is angry, but she is not mentally ill.

In Bobby’s telling, helium was the victim, enduring a profoundly disturbed, alcoholic wife.

Nonetheless, helium flaunted his caller narration with Hollywood histrion Cheryl Hines, contempt the torment it would apt origin his wife. On May 16, 2012, Mary walked retired to her barn and hanged herself.

Bobby went to the New York Times and spoke of however troubled his woman was. At her funeral, successful his eulogy, helium said: ‘I cognize I did everything I could to assistance her.’

Yet aft the burial, aft the quality media packed up and left, Bobby had 1 last enactment of cruelty to exact. A week later, successful the dormant of night, without telling Mary’s siblings oregon getting a permit, helium had her coffin exhumed from the Kennedy household crippled and reburied acold distant and alone.

At the time, a Kennedy spokesperson claimed the determination was made owed to the crippled being excessively ‘closely surrounded by different graves, with nary country for expansion’.

And what, then, of this latest scandal? Olivia Nuzzi is uncovering herself likewise discarded. Insiders from RFK Jr’s campy person said that Nuzzi was ‘aggressive’, that her actions person been ‘scary’ and that helium – mediocre Bobby, unfortunate of each these women who conscionable can’t defy him – was ‘chased by porn’ (those alleged nudes Nuzzi sent).

RFK Jr. has besides reportedly threatened to writer her, some civilly and criminally. It’s emblematic Kennedy bullying, meant to terrorise a troublesome pistillate into retreat and soundlessness – though Kennedys rarely, if ever, sue, due to the fact that that would necessitate them to unfastened their ain books, oregon cellphones, arsenic the lawsuit whitethorn be.

Nuzzi, meanwhile, has mislaid her fiancé, Ryan Lizza — himself a journalist. She volition besides astir apt suffer her occupation astatine New York Magazine. Will each this nonaccomplishment person been worthy it? And wherefore would an different agleam and accomplished young pistillate get progressive with the likes of RFK Jr.?

Even now, arsenic American women person travel to recognise however unsafe this household tin be, excessively galore stay ensorcelled by the myth, possibly deluded by the thought that they, surely, volition find their prince among Kennedy men.

For the Kennedys, quixotically, stay American royalty, contempt the disfigured truth: lone their women carnivore the blame, endure the nationalist humiliations and are meant to consciousness grateful for each of it.

• Maureen Callahan is the writer of Ask Not: The Kennedys And The Women They Destroyed (Harper Collins).