Carole Radziwill remembers late mother-in-law Lee Radziwill

Carole Radziwill paid tribute to late mother-in-law Lee Radziwill with a loving Instagram post on Sunday, February 17, two days after Lee’s death at age 85.

“She was loved,” the 55-year-old wrote, captioning a photo of the style icon and younger sister of late former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. “Rest in Peace, Lee.”

To her followers, the former Real Housewives of New York City star wrote, “Thank you for the kind words & comments.”

Carole was married to Anthony Radziwill, Lee’s first child, who died of cancer in 1999. “I don’t consider myself part of the Kennedy family,” the reality TV alum told The Daily Beast in 2012. “It’s almost like a little point of honor.”

“I’m a DiFalco at the end of the day,” Carole added, citing her maiden name. “An Italian-American from upstate New York. I never call myself a Kennedy cousin. In fact, when I signed my contract with Bravo, I made it very clear that they were not allowed in promos to refer to me as a Kennedy cousin. I’m not that person. I don’t feel it.”

The former ABC News journalist also said at the time that her second act as a Bravo personality would have perplexed her mother-in-law. “The thing about Lee is that not only is she an unbelievably beautiful woman, she’s one of the most curious women I’ve ever met,” she explained. “I don’t think she would understand reality TV, but if you look at her life, she was always doing something interesting and different. She was a decorator, she was even an actress on stage for a while, she worked in fashion, she had so many different interests and lives and careers. So I think she would be bemused.”

Lee was thrice married: to Michael Temple Canfield, Prince Stanislaw Albrecht Radziwill and Herbert Ross. She is survived by daughter Anna Christina “Tina” Radziwill, her second child with Stanislaw.