Kin mourn Mary Kennedy amid rift

Separate memorial services held as family fights for custody of body

BEDFORD: Mary Richardson Kennedy had been close to the Kennedys for much of her life, as a teenage friendship led to a marriage into one of America’s most famous families.

But her death stirred tension between her relatives and the Kennedys, as they faced off in court over custody of her body and as they arranged separate memorial services for the 52year-old architect, environmentalist and estranged wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The court dispute came hours before a wake at the suburban New York estate where she hanged herself on Wednesday.

The Kennedys planned a funeral yesterday morning at a Roman Catholic church in her suburban New York hometown, followed by a burial later in the day near the family’s seaside compound in Hyannisport, Massachusetts.

Mary’s siblings announced that they were planning a memorial service in Manhattan, though they didn’t say when.

But as mourners gathered at the brick mansion in Bedford for her wake on Friday evening, one of her brothers-in-law sounded a note of unity.

“She loved everyone and she doesn’t want fighting,” Douglas Kennedy said.

“She loved for everyone to be together, which is what we’re trying to do.”

Earlier in the day, Robert declined to speak about the legal dispute after emerging from a closed court session in White Plains, saying only “it’s all done”.

Lawyers for Mary’s siblings also declined to comment or didn’t return phone calls.

One of Mary’s brothers, Thomas Richardson, filed legal papers in White Plains on Thursday listing Robert as the defendant.

The medical examiner’s office in Westchester County was told that there were court proceedings related to custody of Mary’s body and waited for a court order before releasing it to a funeral home in Bedford, said county spokesman Donna Greene.

A judge sealed details of the legal dispute, which came on the day the Kennedys had announced their memorial plans for Mary, including the wake on Friday.

Relatives, friends, including Curb Your Enthusiasm creator-star Larry David, CBS This Morning cohost Gayle King, and other mourners – so many that some had to park on nearby side streets – converged to pay their respects.

Two police cars were stationed at the end of the driveway, keeping reporters at a distance. — AP