All About Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s 6 Children

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a proud dad to six children.

The controversial politician and environmental lawyer, who is one of Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy’s 11 children, grew up in the spotlight as a member of the Kennedy family. But when it came time to raise his own kids, he kept their childhoods relatively private.

When Kennedy was still a law student at the University of Virginia, he met his first wife, Emily Ruth Black. The couple wed in 1982 and welcomed two children during their relationship: Robert “Bobby” Kennedy III and Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy. After 10 years together, Kennedy and Black separated and later divorced in 1994.

By the time the couple’s divorce was made official, Kennedy was already dating Mary Richardson, a longtime friend of his sister Kerry. They married in 1994 and had their first son, Conor Kennedy, a few months later. They went on to have three more children before filing for divorce in 2010: Kyra Kennedy, Aidan Kennedy and William “Finn” Kennedy. In 2012, Richardson died by suicide.

Aside from his six children, Kennedy is also a stepfather to his wife, actress Cheryl Hines‘ daughter from a previous relationship. Kennedy and Hines have been married since 2014.

Some of Kennedy’s children were by his side when he launched his 2024 presidential campaign in April 2023. The controversial candidate has since left the Democratic party and is now running for president as an independent.

Here’s everything to know about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s children.

Robert Francis “Bobby” Kennedy III, 39

On Sept. 2, 1984, Kennedy and his then-wife Black welcomed their first child, son Robert Francis Kennedy III. Named after his father and grandfather, the little boy was given the nickname Bobby.

While much of Bobby’s childhood was out of the spotlight, he was occasionally spotted attending events with his famous family. In 2000, when he was 16, he accompanied his father to the Democratic National Convention. He went on to attend Brown University, and shortly after graduation, he helped launch the website Ameritocracy.com. The now-defunct site was created in 2008 as a way to filter and fact-check political news shared by the media.

“For so many people our age, understanding this election is one of the most important things right now,” he told Teen Vogue at the time. “But we live in a culture of sound bites. But you have to dissect them, you have to look at their sources.”

Several years later, Bobby chose to pivot into more creative pursuits, stepping away from the world of politics. While Bobby had previously been public about his support for President Barack Obama, he shared that he wanted to try something different.

“People that, I feel at least, get into politics too early before they’ve had a chance to express themselves and kind of be free and do what they want to do, end up being the most corrupt politicians,” Bobby said in 2011, per HuffPost. “I don’t really care for American politics as they’re currently playing out. Campaign finance is basically legalized bribery.”

Instead, Bobby entered the entertainment industry, writing and starring in Eurotrapped — a 2013 film following a lazy recent grad who gets cut off by his rich parents and ends up on a wild tour of Italy where he accidentally gets wrapped up in an organized crime ring. Around the same time, Bobby also made his directorial debut with ELEW: Live from Infinity, a one-act comedic play about immortality, which featured puppets and a live performance by rock-jazz pianist Eric Lewis.

In the following years, Bobby turned his focus to writing and directing a film about Hunter S. Thompson, telling the true story of his run to be elected Pitkin County Sheriff in 1970. Looking back, Bobby told The Independent that he got the idea for the movie while living out of a bus “as a ski bum in Aspen” and saw a “Hunter Thompson for Sheriff” poster in his favorite bar. He went on to write the script and then chose to finance the film through independent donors instead of a major studio. Through production and COVID-19-related delays, Fear and Loathing in Aspen finally premiered in 2021.

Bobby has been married to wife Amaryllis Fox, a former CIA officer, since 2017. The couple married in a stunning ceremony on the Kennedy family compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts. Bobby and Fox share a daughter, Bobby, and a son, Cassius, as well as a daughter, Zoë, from Fox’s previous relationship.

Kathleen Alexandra “Kick” Kennedy, 36

Kennedy and Black welcomed their second child, daughter Kathleen Alexandra Kennedy, on April 13, 1988. She earned the nickname Kick after her great-aunt Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy, who died in 1948 at age 28. Although the younger Kick was admittedly a handful as a toddler, she says it wasn’t until later in life she realized how similar she was to her rebellious namesake.

“I always thought Dad and I were the same person, but I got fascinated by Kick a few years ago, and it’s funny how similar we are,” Kick told Town & Country in 2012. “She was fun and social and a performer in many ways.”

Like her older brother Bobby, Kick was raised among her family’s animals on their sprawling property. Looking back, Kick says there were “dogs and cats and chickens and alligators” around — as well as falcons, as her father is a master falconer.

After graduating high school, Kick attended Stanford University to study history and theater. There, she focused on two of her passions: activism and acting. She inherited her interest in philanthropy from her father and they now both share an interest in bringing clean water to areas in need. As a student, she hiked Mount Kilimanjaro with actors Emile Hirsch and Jessica Biel in an effort to raise water shortage awareness. In 2008, she also created an IMAX 3-D film with her father titled Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk, which followed the father-daughter duo on a whitewater rafting adventure down the Colorado River in hopes of raising awareness of the world water crisis.

“I’ve been really connected to water issues since I can remember, as my father made it his passion. We knew what PCPs were before we knew how to tie our shoes. I’ve also spent so much time on the water, whether it’s sailing with friends and family or doing a river cleanup on the Hudson. Being on the water … is where I’m the happiest,” Kick told Resident in 2014.

Kick also kicked off her acting career as a Stanford student. In 2011, she landed one of her first roles in her stepmother Hines’ show Curb Your Enthusiasm and later made a cameo as herself on an episode of Gossip Girl. After graduating from college, she went on to study acting at the prestigious Lee Strasberg Institute.

Since then, Kick has been focused on her philanthropic efforts and has been a contributing editor at several publications. In her spare time, she travels the world — and shares her adventures on her Instagram. Kick was previously linked to Paul Simon’s son, Harper, and also dated billionaire banking heir Matthew Mellon before he died in 2018.

Conor Richardson Kennedy, 30

Following Kennedy’s split with Black, he married his second wife Richardson. The couple welcomed their first child together, son Conor Richardson Kennedy, on July 25, 1994.

Much of Conor’s childhood was out of the public eye, but his family was thrust into the news in 2012 when he was still a teenager. In May of that year, his mother died by suicide, which was extensively covered in the media. Then, just a few months later, the 18-year-old made headlines when he briefly dated Taylor Swift.

Conor graduated from the prestigious Deerfield Academy and has gone on to follow in his family’s philanthropic footsteps. In 2013, he joined his father at a protest outside the White House against the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. The pair were arrested and taken into police custody for civil disobedience — but were later released.

Three years later, Conor was arrested again for allegedly fighting outside a Colorado nightclub while defending a gay friend who had been called a homophobic slur. He pled guilty and was given a six-month deferred sentence and was required to write an apology letter to the victim, pay a $500 fine and abstain from drugs and alcohol for the six months.

“Like any father, I don’t want to see my son fighting or involved with the police. But on the other hand, I’m proud that he stands up to bullies,” Kennedy told PEOPLE at the time.

While Conor kept a low profile in the wake of the incident, he made headlines in 2022 when he revealed that he had joined Ukraine’s International Legion of foreign fighters amid the Russian invasion — despite having no prior military training. He was set to take a summer job with a Los Angeles law firm but rescinded the offer to head to Ukraine. In a lengthy Instagram post, Conor explained that he was “deeply moved” by the situation and was “willing to die there” if it came to it.

He noted that he had kept his mission a secret, only telling one person that he was headed to Ukraine and only telling one fighter his real name. He explained that he “didn’t want [his] family or friends to worry” and “didn’t want to be treated differently there.” While he admitted his two-and-a-half months in Ukraine “wasn’t long,” he said that he “saw a lot” and “felt a lot.”

As of October 2022, Conor was heading into his final year of law school at Georgetown. He is currently dating Latin Grammy-nominated singer Giulia. While the couple are private, they have shared several photos of one another on Instagram.

Kyra LeMoyne Kennedy, 28

Kennedy and Richardson welcomed their second child, daughter Kyra LeMoyne Kennedy, on Aug. 22, 1995. She officially made her society debut when she was 18 at the prestigious Bal des Debutantes in 2013. By that time, Kyra had already interned for Dior and Kenneth Cole, per Harper’s Bazaar, and was about to enroll at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City to pursue her interest in clothing design.

In the years that followed, Kyra gained notoriety as a member of the “The Snap Pack,” a group of young, wealthy New Yorkers who chronicled their exclusive jet-set lifestyles on social media. The group, which included Donald Trump’s daughter Tiffany as well as Gaia Matisse, the great-great-granddaughter of the painter Henri Matisse, made headlines for their outings and Instagram posts. One of those headlines included an incident where Kyra allegedly attempted to use a fake ID to get into a nightclub — a story which she later said “was basically fabricated.”

“I couldn’t bear to see anyone,” Kyra told Du Jour of hiding away after the incident. “My dad said, ‘I’m sorry, but hiding is not the right thing to do. You just have to face the truth and be like, this is not me. This is not true.’ ”

While Kyra is still on social media, the 28-year-old maintains a lower online profile. She continues to post fashion content and photos from her travels around the world on Instagram and appears to spend time with family often. She even starred on Celebrity Game Face with her stepmother Hines in 2021.

William Finbar “Finn” Kennedy, 26

On Nov. 8, 1997, Kennedy and Richardson welcomed their third child, William Finbar Kennedy. Nicknamed Finn, he is one of the most private members of the family, shying away from social media and public appearances.

Still, Finn has followed in his father’s footsteps with his passion for aquatic activities and wildlife. While attending Brown University, he studied biology and even appeared in a National Geographic documentary titled Sea of Hope. In the film, he could be seen swimming with a group of playful dolphins near Buck Island Reef National Monument in the U.S. Virgin Islands — an area that his great uncle President John F. Kennedy established as the world’s first marine park in 1961.

“I felt so lucky for that experience,” Finn told EcoWatch in 2016. “There were six to eight of them. They would follow me down to about 35 feet and brush up against me repeatedly, then accompany me back to the surface swimming tight circles around me till we all breached together … It was like they were reaching out to distant cousins from across the millennium.”

Finn is also an avid skier. In 2016, he spoke about climate change and the ski industry at the White House Innovation Summit in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Aidan Caohman Vieques Kennedy, 22

Kennedy and Richardson’s youngest child, son Aidan Caohman Vieques Kennedy, was born on July 13, 2001. At the time of his birth, his father was serving a 30-day sentence in prison after being arrested for trespassing on U.S. Navy land during protests against military bombing of Vieques, an island off Puerto Rico. The situation inspired Aidan’s parents to give him the middle name Vieques.

“I think that when he is older, the child will understand why he has the name of Vieques and how important it is. And he’ll be proud to be a part of that history,” Richardson told reporters in 2001, per the Tampa Bay Times.

According to Aidan’s LinkedIn, he attended the boarding school Salisbury School, during which he worked as a United States Senate Page in the office of Senator Sheldon Whitehouse. He also interned on his uncle Chris Kennedy’s campaign for governor of Illinois as well as Pete Buttigieg’s campaign for president. Additionally, he spent time interning for film and television production company Grand Electric, where he evaluated screenplay submissions.

In 2022, he was accepted into Harvard University and recently interned at Morgan Stanley’s Los Angeles office as a private wealth management analyst.