Vicki Kennedy in Family Dispute With Stepsons Over $71 Million Edward M. Kennedy Institute
Vicki Kennedy, widow of Senator Edward Kennedy, is reportedly in a family dispute with stepsons Edward Jnr and Patrick Kennedy over the mishandling of the $71 million Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate.
The reports indicate that the Kennedy family will be set to be embroiled in another public scandal; this time over the legacy of Senator Edward Kennedy, who was the younger brother of President John F. Kennedy. The senator tragically died of brain cancer in 2009.
Stepsons Edward Jnr and Patrick Kennedy are allegedly dissatisfied with the execution and cost of the plans for the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate, and feel sidelined by their father's widow, according to the Boston Globe.
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A source has told the Boston Globe: "The children feel totally left out. Vicki totally controls the board."
Tensions have been rising since the Edward M. Kennedy Institute board decided to charge a rental fee for use of the Kennedy's iconic Hyannis Port compound. The compound has been a central part of the Kennedy family history, and was where John F. Kennedy was located when he found out he had won the 1960 Presidential election. It has also been a place of mourning for the family amid a series of tragedies.
However, the fee imposed on the property applies even to family members who own property within the compound, leading to disharmony within the iconic family.
Edward Kennedy Jnr has expressed his anger at the management of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute, according to Lee Fentress, a long-time friend of the senator who now chairs the board. Fentress told the Globe: "He and I have had conversations about his concerns about the size and scope of the project. We have agreed to meet in the coming days to go over all this. I am convinced that once we do this, his commitments to the institution will be reinforced."
