Kennedy Family Rift Deepens as RFK Jr. Is Reportedly Excluded From Cousin's Funeral

A long-simmering Kennedy family feud has reportedly reached a painful new stage, with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said to have been excluded from his cousin's funeral amid deep personal and political divisions.

According to reports, the 71-year-old US Health Secretary was not invited to the private service for Tatiana Schlossberg, the 35-year-old daughter of Caroline Kennedy and granddaughter of John F. Kennedy, following a period of public criticism that laid bare the family's internal fracture.

While the Kennedys have weathered conflict before, this episode signals a rare and deeply personal rupture.

Tatiana passed away on 30 December 2025, with the funeral proceedings taking place in the first week of January 2026. While the Kennedy family often gathers at the storied compound in Hyannis Port, the intimate service was held in New York City, where Tatiana lived and worked as an environmental journalist and author.

A Reported Exclusion That Speaks Volumes

The alleged decision centres on Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is said to have been deliberately left out of funeral arrangements for his cousin Tatiana Schlossberg.

Those familiar with the family say the funeral was kept 'strictly limited' out of respect for Tatiana's final wishes and values, a choice that effectively froze Kennedy Jr. out during a period of mourning.

Neither the Kennedy family nor Kennedy Jr.'s office has publicly confirmed the details. However, sources familiar with the arrangements have described the ceremony as intentionally limited to those closest to Tatiana and aligned with her views.

The Essay That Changed Everything

The reported exclusion follows a searing essay Schlossberg published in The New Yorker on 22 November 2025, shortly before family sources announced her death.

In the piece titled 'A Battle With My Blood', she described her struggle with acute myeloid leukaemia with an 'Inversion 3' mutation while sharply criticising her cousin's health policy positions.

She labelled her cousin an 'embarrassment' and criticised his health policies, specifically the slashing of nearly $500 million for mRNA vaccine research and billions in NIH funding.

She argued that his proposals to defund specific medical research directly threatened the lives of patients like her, stating that his actions were a 'betrayal' of the Kennedy legacy.

This public condemnation provided the emotional backdrop for the funeral arrangements. For the Schlossberg family, the presence of the man Tatiana had labelled an 'embarrassment' would have been an intolerable contradiction.

While RFK Jr. has historically attempted to maintain a presence at family events, even serving as a pallbearer at the funeral of his sister-in-law, Joan Kennedy, in October 2025, the personal nature of Tatiana's critique appears to have created a boundary that even the 'united front' of the Kennedys cannot bridge.

Caroline Kennedy's Reported Role

The reported snub marks a stark escalation in the rift that has plagued the family since RFK Jr. was confirmed by the Senate (52-48) on 13 February 2025 to lead the HHS.

Tatiana, a mother of two, spent her final months vocalising her disdain for her cousin's 'anti-science' agenda, specifically his stance on vaccine research and funding for the medical institutions that provided her treatment.

Family sources suggest that Caroline Kennedy, who previously described RFK Jr. as a 'predator' in a letter to senators during his confirmation hearings, made the decision to keep the funeral 'strictly limited' to those who shared Tatiana's values, effectively freezing out the Health Secretary during a period of intense mourning.

During Kennedy Jr.'s confirmation process in early 2025, Caroline Kennedy had already taken the extraordinary step of writing to US senators to oppose his appointment, describing him in starkly negative terms.

The Political Cost of a Family Feud

The exclusion is not merely a private matter; it carries significant political weight as RFK Jr. navigates his role as Health Secretary.

High-profile relatives, including his sister Kerry Kennedy and nephew Joe Kennedy III, have already called for his resignation, citing his policies as a 'threat to Americans' health.' This latest shun from the Caroline Kennedy wing of the family reinforces the narrative that the most prominent members of the 'Camelot' lineage have completely disowned his administration.

Supporters of RFK Jr. argue that he is being unfairly targeted for his political convictions, but the optics of being unwelcome at a cousin's funeral are damaging. Critics counter that the break reflects a moral line drawn by family members who see his positions as a threat to public health.

As the 2026 legislative session begins, the Health Secretary finds himself isolated from the institutional and familial support that once defined his public persona, left to manage a department while being publicly rebuked by the heirs of the man who created it.