Carole Radziwill

Carole Radziwill
Born	Carole Ann DiFalco 8/20/1963
Birthplace	Suffern, New York, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Journalist, author, television personality
Known for	The Real Housewives of New York City, ABC News correspondent, What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship and Love
Education	New York University
Spouse(s)	Anthony Radziwill (m. 1994; d. 1999)
Awards	Three Emmy Awards, Peabody Award, GLAAD Media Award
Website	http://www.caroleradziwill.com/

Carole Ann Radziwill (née DiFalco; born August 20, 1963) is an American journalist, author, and television personality who built a distinguished career at ABC News before becoming known to a wider audience through the Bravo reality series The Real Housewives of New York City. Over the course of a sixteen-year career in broadcast journalism, Radziwill earned three Emmy Awards, a Peabody Award, and a GLAAD Media Award for her reporting and producing work. She married Prince Anthony Radziwill, a member of the Polish-Lithuanian Radziwill noble family and cousin of John F. Kennedy Jr., in 1994; Anthony died of cancer in 1999. In 2005, Radziwill published her memoir What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship and Love, which became a New York Times Best Seller and explored her experiences of love and loss, including her close friendship with Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy and John F. Kennedy Jr. She joined The Real Housewives of New York City in 2012 and appeared on the show through 2018. In 2026, it was announced that Radziwill would return to the franchise for Season 16 of RHONY.

Early Life

Carole Ann DiFalco was born on August 20, 1963, in Suffern, New York, a village in Rockland County located approximately 30 miles northwest of New York City. She grew up in a working-class Italian-American family, a background she has discussed publicly over the years and which stood in sharp contrast to the aristocratic circles she would later enter through marriage.

Details about Radziwill's childhood and family life in Suffern remain relatively limited in public sources. What is known is that she developed an early interest in journalism and storytelling, interests that would eventually lead her to pursue a career in broadcast news. Suffern, a small suburban community, provided a modest upbringing that Radziwill has referenced in interviews and in her memoir as formative to her identity and work ethic.

Education

Radziwill attended New York University, where she studied journalism. Her education at NYU provided the foundation for her subsequent career in broadcast news at ABC, one of the major American television networks. The training she received prepared her for the demanding world of network television journalism, where she would go on to work for more than a decade and a half.

Career

ABC News (1986–2002)

Radziwill began her career at ABC News in 1986, initially working as a journalist and producer. Over the course of sixteen years at the network, she established herself as a skilled reporter and producer, covering a range of significant stories in both domestic and international news.

Her work at ABC News was recognized with some of the most prestigious awards in journalism. Radziwill earned three Emmy Awards for her reporting and producing contributions. She also received a Peabody Award, one of the most respected honors in electronic media, as well as a GLAAD Media Award, which recognizes media professionals for their fair, accurate, and inclusive representations of the LGBTQ community.

Radziwill left ABC News in 2002, transitioning away from broadcast journalism to focus on writing and other pursuits. Her departure came several years after the death of her husband, Anthony Radziwill, in 1999, a period of profound personal upheaval that she later chronicled in her memoir.

Writing Career

Following her departure from ABC News, Radziwill turned to writing. In 2005, she published her memoir, What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship and Love. The book explored her experiences of love, loss, and grief, centering on her marriage to Prince Anthony Radziwill and his death from cancer, as well as her close friendship with John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, who died in a plane crash on July 16, 1999 — just weeks before Anthony's death.

What Remains became a New York Times Best Seller and was praised for its candid and restrained treatment of grief and celebrity. The memoir provided an intimate look at the Kennedy and Radziwill families from the perspective of someone who had married into their world from a vastly different background. Radziwill wrote about the complexity of navigating these social circles while dealing with the terminal illness of her husband and the sudden, tragic deaths of two of her closest friends.

In a 2026 essay for Town & Country magazine, Radziwill reflected on the narratives that have been constructed around the lives of John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, writing: "We create narratives for people because they are simpler than the complexities of real lives. I wrote that in my memoir in 2005." The essay addressed the tendency to simplify complex people into tidy narratives, a theme she had explored in her memoir two decades earlier.

Radziwill has also participated in spoken-word storytelling events, including performances for The Moth, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling.

The Real Housewives of New York City (2012–2018; 2026–)

In 2012, Radziwill joined the cast of The Real Housewives of New York City, the Bravo reality television series that follows the personal and professional lives of a group of women living in New York City. She became a full-time cast member beginning with the show's fifth season, bringing a different sensibility to the series as a Peabody and Emmy Award–winning journalist and published author.

During her time on RHONY, Radziwill was known for her dry wit, her writing career, and her relationships with other cast members. She appeared on the show through its tenth season, departing in 2018 after six seasons. Her tenure on the series coincided with some of its most-watched and most-discussed seasons, and she became one of the more prominent cast members during this period.

While on the show, Radziwill's personal life also received attention, including her relationship with Adam Kenworthy, a chef and photographer. The relationship, which was occasionally featured on the series, ended prior to her departure from the show.

In March 2026, it was announced that Radziwill would return to The Real Housewives of New York City for its sixteenth season, more than seven years after her departure from the franchise. RHONY executive producer Andy Cohen discussed how Radziwill would fit in with the show's newer cast members, teasing the dynamic her return would bring to the series. The announcement generated significant media interest, with coverage noting that Radziwill's return represented one of the more notable cast comebacks in the franchise's history.

Personal Life

Radziwill married Prince Anthony Radziwill on August 27, 1994. Anthony Radziwill was a television producer and a member of the Radziwill family, one of the oldest and most prominent noble families of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was also the son of Lee Radziwill and Prince Stanisław Albrecht Radziwill, making him a cousin of John F. Kennedy Jr. through his mother's sister, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

Through her marriage, Carole Radziwill became deeply connected to the Kennedy family. She and Anthony were particularly close to John F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy. The two couples spent significant time together during the late 1990s. On July 16, 1999, John F. Kennedy Jr., Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, and Carolyn's sister Lauren Bessette were killed in a plane crash off Martha's Vineyard. Radziwill has spoken publicly about having been in contact with Bessette-Kennedy on the day of the fatal flight.

Anthony Radziwill had been battling cancer for several years, and he died on August 10, 1999, less than a month after the deaths of John and Carolyn. The convergence of these losses within such a short period formed the emotional core of Radziwill's memoir, What Remains.

After her husband's death, Radziwill was later in a relationship with musician Russ Irwin, which ended in 2013. She subsequently dated Adam Kenworthy, a chef, during her time on The Real Housewives of New York City; that relationship also ended.

Love Story and Public Legacy of Kennedy Friendships

In March 2026, the Hulu limited series Love Story, which dramatized the relationship between John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, premiered without a character portraying Radziwill. The omission attracted considerable media attention given Radziwill's central role in the lives of both the Kennedy and Radziwill families during the period depicted in the series. Producer Brad Simpson addressed the decision in interviews, explaining the creative rationale for her absence from the show.

Radziwill herself addressed the narratives surrounding her late friends in her Town & Country essay, cautioning against oversimplification of the real people behind public mythologies.

Recognition

Radziwill's journalism career at ABC News resulted in several major industry honors. She received three Emmy Awards for her work as a reporter and producer, recognizing excellence in television news. She was also awarded a Peabody Award, which honors the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and online media. Additionally, she received a GLAAD Media Award for fair, accurate, and inclusive representation of the LGBTQ community in media.

Her memoir, What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship and Love (2005), achieved New York Times Best Seller status, marking her successful transition from broadcast journalism to literary nonfiction. The book received favorable attention from critics and readers for its treatment of grief, friendship, and the intersection of ordinary and extraordinary lives.

Radziwill's time on The Real Housewives of New York City brought her work and story to a broader audience. While the reality television platform differed markedly from her journalism background, it allowed her to discuss her writing career and personal experiences with a large viewership.

Legacy

Carole Radziwill occupies an unusual position in American media and culture, having moved across the worlds of network news journalism, literary memoir, reality television, and the social orbit of one of America's most prominent families. Her journalism career at ABC News spanned a period of significant change in broadcast media, and her awards — including three Emmys and a Peabody — reflect sustained contributions to the field over more than a decade.

Her memoir, What Remains, remains her most enduring literary work. The book provided a rare first-person account of the final years of John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy from the perspective of a close friend, as well as an intimate portrait of marriage and loss. As dramatizations and reinterpretations of the Kennedy story continue to appear in popular media — such as the 2026 Hulu series Love Story — Radziwill's firsthand account has taken on renewed relevance as a corrective to fictionalized portrayals.

Her return to The Real Housewives of New York City in 2026, after more than seven years away from the franchise, suggests a continued public profile and audience interest in her perspective. The announcement of her return generated significant media coverage, reflecting her status as one of the more notable figures to have appeared on the Real Housewives franchise.

Throughout her career, Radziwill has moved between serious journalism, literary writing, and popular entertainment, a trajectory that reflects broader shifts in American media culture. Her willingness to engage with different platforms — from ABC News to Bravo to Town & Country essays — has kept her in the public conversation across multiple decades.