Joan Kennedy was said to be so distraught over losing her ex-husband Ted and daughter Kara within two-years of each other, she cried herself to sleep every night and had to be put on “suicide watch” because her family feared she would start drinking again, RadarOnline.comcan reveal.
Insiders’ claims about grief-stricken Joan resurfaced after the Massachusetts Democratic Party chair confirmed she died “peacefully” in her sleep at age 89 on October 8 at her Boston home.
Joan and Ted Kennedy’s Messy Marriage
Joan and Ted’s marriage was plagued by scandal, affairs and addiction.
Ted was introduced to his first wife by his sister Jean, who was a classmate of Joan’s at Manhattanville College, in 1957. The pair began dating and while they expressed reservations about getting married, Kennedy patriarch Joe insisted on the union.
They married in 1958 and had three children together, sons Ted Jr. and Patrick and daughter Kara, a cancer survivor who died of a heart attack at age 51 in 2011.
While they put on a united front in public, Ted and Joan’s marriage was plagued with affairs, scandal, addiction and heartbreak.
Joan and Ted split in 1978 but did not officially divorce until after his failed 1980 presidential campaign in 1983.
Back-to-Back Deaths Spark Relapse Fears
Joan was said to be devastated over Ted’s 2009 death following a battle with brain cancer.
Ted moved on and married second wife Victoria Reggie in 1992, but Joan never remarried.
The senator was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, in May 2008. After a courageous fight, he passed away at age 77 on August 25, 2009, mere days after the Kennedys lost his sister Eunice on August 11.
His passing utterly devastated Joan – and while Victoria attended her husband’s funeral, sources said it was his first wife who was seen – and treated – as his widow.
While still in the throes of grief, Joan suffered another excruciating loss when her eldest child and only daughter died of a heart attack two years later.
Daughter Kara’s death two years later in 2011 sparked concern for Joan’s wellbeing.
An insider said: “Joan had been a mess since Ted’s death and it got worse when she lost Kara.
“Her friends and family are terrified she will fall off the wagon again.”
For decades Joan was open about her struggles with alcoholism. Her sobriety journey was checkered with relapses and drunk driving-related arrests.
Joan’s drinking spiraled out of the control while she was married to Ted, particularly after the Chappaquiddick scandal in 1969, when the senator drove his car off a bridge in Edgartown, killing 28-year-old passenger and rumored mistress Mary Jo Kopechne, who was trapped inside the submerged vehicle.
Sources claimed her family put her on ‘suicide watch’ as she cried herself to sleep and became a recluse.
Concern about Joan hitting the bottle increased as she struggled to pull herself out of the deep pit of despair following the back-to-back deaths.
Sources said Joan’s worried loved ones put her on “suicide watch” as she was “crying herself to sleep” night after night.
Another insider claimed Kara’s death made her mother become a recluse who “almost never goes out.”
The source added: “She doesn’t even want to answer the phone. She looks dreadful.”
