JFK Jr., Carolyn Bessette, and her sister Lauren died in a plane crash off Martha’s Vineyard in July 1999.

RFK Jr. book shares new details of ‘tense conference call’ planning JFK Jr. and Carolyn’s funerals

JFK Jr., Carolyn Bessette, and her sister Lauren died in a plane crash off Martha's Vineyard in July 1999.

By Marina Watts

Marina Watts

Marina Watts is a news writer for with seven years experience covering entertainment, pop culture and celebrity news. Her previous work appears in PEOPLE, Bustle and Newsweek.

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April 7, 2026 3:55 p.m. ET

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Robert F. Kennedy Jr.; John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. Credit:

Michael M. Santiago/Getty; Rose Hartman/Getty

- RFK Jr. remembered details about his cousin JFK Jr.'s funeral in 1999.

- In a new book titled *RFK, Jr.: The Fall and Rise*, Isabel Vincent writes about the secretary of health and human services' rise to power and the struggles he faced throughout his life.

- *RFK, Jr.: The Fall and Rise *hits bookstores on April 14.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is remembering details surrounding his cousin John F. Kennedy Jr.'s funeral.

In the upcoming biography about the secretary of health and human services titled *RFK, Jr.: The Fall and Rise*, investigative journalist Isabel Vincent reveals details from his diaries, including his memories of the planning around JFK Jr., his wife Carolyn Bessette and her sister Lauren Bessette's funerals. Elsewhere in the book, Vincent writes of the weight of the Kennedy family legacy, his father Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s 1968 assassination, and RFK Jr.'s struggles with addiction and "lust demons."

JFK Jr., Carolyn, and Lauren died in a plane crash on July 16, 1999 off the coast of Martha's Vineyard. They were on their way to cousin Rory Kennedy's wedding in Cape Cod and were going to drop off Lauren at Martha's Vineyard after departing from Essex Airport in Caldwell, N.J. JFK Jr. was piloting the Piper Saratoga that killed the trio on impact.

According to Vincent's book, Carolyn's mother, Ann Freeman, had been very "upset” about the decision regarding her daughters' final resting place. She wanted her daughters and JFK Jr. to be buried in Greenwich, Conn., together. However, “John Kennedy couldn’t be buried in Greenwich because he had no connection,” RFK Jr. wrote on July 18.

John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy in Boston in May 1999.

Justin Ide/Newsmakers via Getty

Freeman was “terrified that they will try to spirit [Carolyn] to [the family plot in] Brookline [Mass.], or in Martha’s Vineyard," per Vincent's book. (Freeman reportedly didn't want her daughters separated, since Lauren wouldn't be buried there with JFK Jr. and Carolyn.)

After a "tense conference call," it was decided that Ted Kennedy would eulogize JFK Jr. and that Carolyn's friend Hamilton South would read her eulogy. Lisa Bessette, Lauren's twin sister and Freeman's only surviving daughter, proposed that Ted give a combined eulogy for the late couple since he knew them.

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Caroline Kennedy’s husband Ed Schlossberg "shot down the idea." (Ted ultimately accepted the idea and eulogized both of them.) “Kennedys do not eulogize non-Kennedys,” Schlossberg said, per RFK Jr.’s diary. Lisa was "disgusted" by Schlossberg’s reaction and asked if he made up his own rules on the fly before abruptly ending the phone call.

6 chilling details about JFK Jr.'s fatal plane crash

JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette were 'disconnected' before fatal plane crash: 'His heart was breaking'

JFK Jr., Carolyn, and Lauren were honored through a series of memorials. Their ashes were scattered in a ceremony aboard the U.S. Navy destroyer *USS Briscoe *off the coast of Martha's Vineyard on July 22. Only 17 members of the Kennedy, Bessette, and Freeman families were aboard the ship to say their final goodbyes.

The following day, a private funeral was held at St. Thomas More Church in New York where 350 people packed the pews to honor JFK Jr., Carolyn, and Lauren. On July 24, a memorial mass took place at Christ Church in Greenwich, Conn., where many who knew the Bessette sisters came to pay their respects. RFK Jr. served as an honorary pallbearer for his cousin at the July 24 memorial.**

'RFK, Jr.: The Fall and Rise' by Isabel Vincent.

*RFK, Jr.: The Fall and Rise *comes out on April 14. It is available for preorder wherever books are sold.

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