Nineteen-year-old Kathy McKeon arrived in the United States from County Monaghan in 1964. She was hired to become the personal assistant to former first lady Jackie Kennedy. Not only would she spend the next thirteen years with the notoriously private icon but she developed a long, lasting friendship that only a few knew about until now. She's written a book and it's called Jackie's girl – My life with the Kennedy family, in which Kathy sheds light on what life was like inside Camelot, following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in November 1963.
Kathy told Ryan that she didn't know too much about the assassination of President Kennedy but figured that it something significant seeing as her own Mother had a picture of him hanging in their kitchen wall between the Pope and the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Kathy didn't have a "proper" interview with Mrs Kennedy as per say. When she arrived at the house, she met John Junior and immediately connected with him when he showed Kathy some tricks his dog could do. Jackie was observing from afar and knew instantly that Kathy was perfect for the job.
“She was in the hallway all the time listening to me and John and she figured out that John liked me, I was young and this is what she was looking for. John and his dog Shannon actually interviewed me.”
Kathy shared with Ryan that it was she who was in charge of Mrs Kennedy's wardrobe, makeup and jewellery. People often have the opinion, according to Kathy, that Jackie Kennedy had a substantial wardrobe, where in actual fact she didn't. Everything was extremely organised with every pair of trousers, paired with its designated blouse or sweater.
“They'd talk about her and say all she did was shop but she wasn't like that at all. She would have about four or five pairs of pants but always had tops to match those pants.”
It was on a rare occasion when Jackie would go down the country that she would indulge in a cigarette or two.
“I learned to smoke from her cigarettes. If I didn't have them, I'd take hers because all-around the house was lilt containers of cigarettes”
It was, in fact, Jackie's mother-in-law, who came up with the nickname – Jackie's Girl for Kathy. Kathy first met her in Cape Cod when she brought the children, Caroline and John over to see their grandmother. Kathy claimed that when she called the house, she would ask to speak to Jackie's girl. This was something that Kathy was content with and was only delighted to name the book after this nickname.
“When she use to call the house she used to say ‘Can I speak to Jackie's girl’?”
Kathy recalls the evening she heard the news of Bobby Kennedy's passing. When she went into work, Jackie asked Kathy to go and speak to the children as they were very upset that their Uncle Bobby had passed away. Bobby had become a father figure to them since the passing of their own father.
“She loved Uncle Bobby and so did John. He was a great father figure to the two. When he came to visit they would run from their rooms or from the living rooms and run into his arms and he would hug them and wrestle with them with them on the floor. He loved the two little kids.”
To listen back to this fascinating interview in full, click here.