Lee Radziwill, Sister of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Dies at 85

(Bloomberg) -- Lee Radziwill, the younger socialite sister of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, died on Friday in Manhattan. She was 85.

Her daughter, Anna Christina Radziwill, confirmed her death to the New York Times, citing natural causes.

Radziwill was born Caroline Lee Bouvier on March 3, 1933, to stockbroker John Vernou Bouvier III and socialite Janet Lee Bouvier. Her parents endured a bitter divorce when she was 7 years old. Her father lost his fortune following a series of poor investments, according to an account in Vogue, and her mother married Hugh D. Auchincloss two years later.

"There have been many things in my life to have regrets about, in the sense I wish I could have changed them, or somehow made them not happen," she told the New York Times in 2013. "What I don’t have is envy. I’m perfectly content at this time of my life. I’ve done so many fascinating things and the greatest joy is that I continue to do interesting things and meet fascinating people."

The ex-wife of Polish nobleman Prince Stanislas Radziwill was a fashion luminary, writer, interior designer and actress. She was friends with an eclectic group of artists, including Truman Capote and Andy Warhol, and once toured with the Rolling Stones.

Radziwill, who had homes in New York and Paris, "was the height of elegance, a true icon - an incredibly attractive woman who always adapted to whatever the circumstance," Mathilde Favier, public relations director in charge of VIPs at Christian Dior, told WWD.

"She was incredibly elegant and inspiring, and always ahead of her time because she was a fashion visionary. It’s very sad. It’s the end of an era.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Matthew G. Miller in New York at mmiller144@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Shamim Adam at sadam2@bloomberg.net, Tom Redmond

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