American journalist and TV personality, Carole Radziwill is mostly known for her six-year stint in Real Housewives of New York City and her marriage with Polish prince, Anthony Radziwill. You might have got a glimpse of her life through the Bravo’s hit show, but there might be some untold stories that you are unaware of. Read on to find out more about her family life, husband, career, and net worth.
Mediocre Early life
Carole Ann DiFalco was born in a working-class family in Suffern, New York, on August 20, 1963. She earned a B.A. from Hunter College and an M.B.A. from New York University.
She was your typical kid growing up in the 1970s, who joined the Girl Scouts, played the flute in band and performed gymnastics. Her parents worked two jobs to support the family and Carole also did jobs like babysitting, a waitress at Wendy’s and customer care at a department store. Her life changed forever after she relocated to New York City.
Career as a Journalist
Radziwill started her career at ABC in New York in 1985 as an intern in postproduction for a new magazine show, 20/20. She later got to work as a production secretary in Close Up and also worked for Peter Jennings’ documentary unit, producing shows about gun control, abortion and visited Cambodia, Haiti, and India to cover foreign policy stories.
In 1991, she was stationed in Iraq during the Gulf War and reported on the SCUD missile attacks. She spent six weeks in Kandahar during the War on Afghanistan in 2003. She produced segments for an ABC show, Profiles from the Frontline. She has won numerous awards, including three Emmys, one for her story on land mines in Cambodia.
Best-Selling Author
After her husband Anthony Radziwill died, she left ABC News to write a memoir about her life. The memoir entitled What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship and Love, released in 2005 became the New York Times’ Best Seller. Her memoir about her personal life, journalism career at ABC News and her effort to manage her husband’s cancer, was dubbed as “bittersweet account that emphasized graciousness over disclosure.”
She released her first novel, The Widow’s Guide to Sex & Dating, on February 11, 2014. She sold the book to Holt Publishing in a whopping six-figure-deal.
In 2006, she signed wrote a monthly column called Lunch Date, where she met and wrote about New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Hollywood actors, Antonio Banderas, Alec Baldwin and Rachel Weisz.
Real Housewives of New York City and Net Worth
Radziwill joined the cast of Bravo TV’s Real Housewives of New York City during its fifth season. She announced that she was leaving the show after six seasons (5 to 10) stating that she wanted to go back to journalism and producing on July 25, 2018. She stated,
“After six seasons on Bravo’s RHONY, I have decided to return to what I do best — journalism and producing. I am sure this does not come as a surprise to any of the viewers, all of whom have been supportive, encouraging, and kind. My original curiosity about reality television has waned over the years and I am focusing on TV and writing projects that better suit my more steady temperament. I have worked with amazing producers, made great friends, and I’m thrilled to leave frenemies behind I will remember this entire experience with delight, humor, and a veracious accuracy. Next.” – Carole Radziwill
Throughout her career as a journalist, author and TV personality, she has a net worth of $50 million.
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What happened to her Husband Anthony Radziwill?
Carole was married to the Polish prince, Carole Radziwill from 1994 until his death in 1999. You might have thought of a typical fairytale wedding of a prince and princess. However, it wasn’t the case. The way they met is like the most awkward meet-cute ever.
They were introduced to each other when they were assigned together by ABC to cover the case of infamous brothers, Lyle and Erik Menendez, who murdered their parents in 1989 in their Beverly Hills home. The couple quickly hit it off and the rest, as we know, is history.
The power couple tied the knot in a low profile wedding ceremony in 1994 at Anthony’s mother’s home in East Hampton. She opened up about her marriage in a special, The Last Days of JFK Jr and also in RHONY. Anthony was diagnosed with a rare kind of cancer, sarcoma right before their marriage. They kept his illness secret until he died on August 10, 1999.
As Anthony was really healthy except for cancer, it became easy for them to keep it a secret. He rarely missed his job as a producer for ABC News and even they scheduled his two major surgeries pretending to be on vacations.
A very few people, including his family and couple of close friends, were aware of his condition. However, the last years of his life became difficult as cancer metastasized outside of his lungs and he had to follow chemotherapy and radiation treatment instead of operations.
Tight-knit with Family
Radziwill was the only son of Prince Stanisław Radziwiłł and his wife, Caroline Lee Bouvier, sister of former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and sister-in-law of President John F. Kennedy.
Carole was massively devastated by the death of Anthony’s cousin, JFK Jr. and his wife, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy in a plane crash in 1999. Recently, she lost her mother-in-law, Lee Radziwill on February 15, 2019.
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Other Relationships
After losing so many people close to her, she had a fear that she’ll be abandoned again. So, she talked about her concerns about getting into a relationship with her RHONY co-star, Bethenny Frankel.
She has attracted some of the most eligible bachelors of Hollywood. She once dated George Clooney and had a brief fling with Ralph Fiennes while in London.
She started dating chef Adam Kenworthy, 21 years her junior in 2014. The pair dated on and off before finally calling it quits in 2017. They were open about their relationship and left no stone unturned in showing affection towards one another. Perhaps, they are still on friendly terms as both of them haven’t removed each other’s photos from social media.