The Kennedys: A Timeline Of Tragedy Quiz

Answer: Died in aircraft explosion on top secret mission

Joseph P. Kennedy was the eldest of the family of nine, and some say he was his father's favourite. During WW2, Kennedy volunteered to fly with the US Navy and served initially in the Caribbean. In 1943, his squadron of B24 bombers was sent to England.

He flew enough missions to qualify for leave, but twice declined. On August 12, 1944, he took part in a top secret mission to fly a Liberator bomber packed with bombs on a drone mission. The idea was that Kennedy and a colleague would bail out, leaving their aircraft to be radio-controlled by others accompanying them. At 6.20 that morning, two explosions ripped the Liberator apart and the two pilots died.

Answer: France

At the age of 28, she had already been widowed by the death of her husband, William John Robert Cavendish, Marquis of Harrington, in WW2. Kathleen Kennedy was the fourth child of Joe and Rose Kennedy. In 1938, her father was appointed US ambassador to the Court of St James, and she travelled with him to London. During that trip she met her husband-to-be. The Kennedy family returned to the USA on the outbreak of WW2.

In 1943, she travelled to England again and got married. Her husband was called up to the army a few weeks later and died in combat on September 10, 1944. Kathleen, now Lady Harrington, continued to live in England and died on May 13, 1948 in a plane crash in the south of France. She was aged just 28.

In 1964, meanwhile, her brother Edward M. Kennedy, the youngest of the clan, escaped death in a plane crash.

Answer: Two

According to the National Archives: "Lee Harvey Oswald fired three shots at President John F. Kennedy; the second and third shots he fired struck the President; the third shot he fired killed the President." The shots were fired from behind the president and from the sixth-floor window of a building from a rifle owned by Lee Harvey Oswald, the archives record. Kennedy had been president for just 1,044 days.

Answer: California

Robert Kennedy had just celebrated his success in the Democratic primary when he was shot at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. Like the death of his brother, conspiracy theories emerged.

In 2019, Robert F. Kennedy Jr met his father's convicted killer, Sirhan Sirhan, in a California prison. Afterwards he told reporters: "I was disturbed that the wrong person might have been convicted of killing my father." It had previously been speculated that a second gunman was present and shot the senator.

Answer: Drug overdose

Aged just 28, David Kennedy was found dead in a Palm Beach, Florida, hotel room on April 25, 1984. He had struggled for several years with drug addiction. Newspaper reports suggested he had never got over the trauma of his father's death.

Answer: Skiing accident

Michael Kennedy died in Aspen, Colorado, on December 31, 1997. He was aged 39 when he skied into a tree. He was an expert skier, but it is thought he died playing a 'game' that combined downhill skiing with American football.

Answer: Martha's Vineyard

Kennedy was at the controls of the plane when it crashed into the sea on July 16, 1999. His wife, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and her sister, Lauren Bessette, also died. An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board surmised the crash happened after Kennedy became disoriented in hazy conditions.

The bodies of the three victims were recovered five days after the crash and next morning their ashes were scattered at sea. An autopsy report concluded they died from multiple injuries. Once again the C word -conspiracy - raised its head after the death. There were claims of a cover-up over the crash.

Answer: Cancer

Edward M. Kennedy was also a senator and had survived the scandal of the "Chappaquiddic Island" incident in which an aide died when he drove a car off a bridge. He died on August 25, 2009, at the age of 77. His sister, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, had died two weeks earlier.

Answer: Accidental overdose

Kennedy Hill then aged 22, had spoken of her struggles with depression. In 2007, it was reported that she had been a target in an attempted abduction near her home.

Answer: Canoe overturned

On April 2, Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean, aged 40, and her son Gideon, aged eight, went missing in a canoe on the Chesapeake Bay. She was a granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy Sr. Her body was recovered from the water five days after she and her son disappeared. The body of her son was recovered by divers on April 8, 2020.