Why did Jackie Kennedy keep the Onassis name?

She never liked the Kennedys

She never divorced Onassis; she became his widow. She wasn't going to give up the prestige of the Kennedy name. If she was going to keep the first late husband's name, it would look hypocritical to dump the most recent late husband's name.

I admire her (or the children) for keeping the Onassis name on the stone. She never divorced him; she did not remain a Kennedy nor did she go back to being a Bouvier.

She got quite a lot out of taking his name, so she would have looked like a hypocrite if she had discarded it.

Onassis hated her by the end of his life and was planning to divorce her. He even allegedly called the paparazzi on her when she was sunbathing nude.

I think it's weird how the names are laid out on the headstone. It's so unbalanced having three names on the first row and just one name on the second row. I guess the top row represents Kennedy and the second row represents the second era, but it looks like an afterthought. (Or simply, the person who approved it didn't have the basic design since to notice it looks visually unbalanced, but didn't want to shrink the font to make it all fit on one row.)

If I were in charge, I'd put "Jackqueline Bouvier" on the top row, and then I'd place "Kennedy Onassis" on the second row. She deserved a row to herself independent of references to her shitty husbands.

She kept the Onassis because she wanted her own identity - separate from the Kennedys

I thought I read in Kitty Kelley’s book that her settlement with Christina required her to keep the last name . It kept the Onassis name in the media ,and it was a fuck you to Jackie, since she wanted nothing to do with that life anymore.

The other thing to remember is that she was a practicing Catholic, so the religious practices about using husbands' names mattered to her.

R7 that is not true - In fact Christina wanted Jackie as far away from the Onassis as possible.

Christina gave Jackie $27 million to go away - later saying the money was peanuts. Christina would've paid twice as much as she wanted Jackie out of the picture.

[quote] If I were in charge, I'd put "Jackqueline Bouvier" on the top row,

Good thing you're not in charge then, since you misspelled her first name.

Why was Christina O such a bitch?

She never did anything in her life but be rich and a bitch.

R5, it is in keeping with the style of JFK's headstone, tying it to the Kennedy name, yet acknowledging her Onassis married name.

Better than On Assistance

Christina’s parents were both monsters and they did not pay her much attention. Christina and her brother unfortunately both took after their father and not their mother, looks wise.

Jackie probably could have won over Christina , who was desperate for affection, but her brother Alex hated Jackie and Christina followed his lead. Jackie tried to develop a relationship with her early in the marriage but Christina rebelled against Jackie criticizing her table manners, appearance and weight.

Once Alexander Onassis died, Christina was done with Jackie-Christina ended up believing that Jackie was a black widow who cursed her family.

The Onassis name is on the second line because that is where second billing goes.

Christina remained in contact with Jackie, and even introduced her to Christina's prospective husbands. She was not "done" with her at all.

She kept it because that was her legal name. And the grave marking was done appropriately.

Widows don't have the same options of ex wives. And besides, by the time Ari died everyone in the world knew who "Jackie O" was, even if they didn't know who HE was.

[quote] Christina remained in contact with Jackie, and even introduced her to Christina's prospective husbands

Bullshit

Christina DESPISED Jackie

Jackie was very old-fashioned and traditional. She would never have dropped her second husband's name. She was widowed, not divorced.

In Jackie's eulogy (given by Ted) the name Onassis was not mentioned once.

I wonder if Caroline and her children hate having "Schlossberg" tacked onto their names.

She would be turning 91 today.

To crawl into bed with Onassis means you are one thirsty whore looking for $$$.

She was a trophy wife, for JFK as for Onassis. And she was well aware of it.

What kind are of a guy was her boyfriend she had after Onassis? Was this a relationship of love?

I love that she only got $27million to fuck off from one of the wealthiest families on earth at the time. Given a few pieces of silver and shown the door.

I distinctly remember at the time hearing on the radio that the family's wish was for Onassis not to be on the tombstone but it was Arlington's policy that the legal name be on the tombstone.

^ Hence the Onassis was never mentioned at the funeral. The family would rather it not be mentioned.

Jackie was a class act who brought modernism to the White House. She was regal and elegant and dignified in a way that very few women have been.

She was never coarse or vulgar in public, and she did a lot of humanitarian work. And give her credit, she went out and got a job because she wanted to be one of the working class people.

Maybe Ari insisted, being a traditional Greek? I'd take his name - or any name he wanted me to - for that kind of money.

Did Princess Lee pay for the funeral and tombstone, what with Jackie on assistance? And then to have Jackie cut Lee out of the will...how rude.

R28, Jackie NEVER wanted to be one of the great unwashed masses. Please! 🙄

Did Jackie convert to Greek Orthodoxy and then revert back to the One True Faith after Ari's death?

Did Jackie ever convert to Judaism while she was living with Maurice Tempelsman? She was with him 14 years, way longer than she was with either of her husbands. He is an Orthodox Jew, whose family spoke Yiddish. And he is the one who took her $26 million pile of money and turned it into over $100 million. Interesting how both Jackie and Caroline ended up with Jewish men. I can remember in the 1960s it was a scandal that there were Catholics in the White House.

She liked money and there is nothing wrong with it, esp if all the men in your life never married you out of love.

You made her money the old fashioned way.

R25, the $26,000,000 settlement in 1975 is the equivalent in 2020 dollars of about $125,000,000.

I want my headstone to be simple, as well. Just my name & the years of my birth & death. No beloved this or that.

There was some question whether she’d be buried next to Pres. Kennedy. She put that to rest by saying her place in history was next to him.

For the things she let him do to her, she earned it.

[quote]I want my headstone to be simple, as well. Just my name & the years of my birth & death. No beloved this or that.

No worries, R37, no one can stand you. Crickets and tumbleweeds at your service.

To avoid having to go to the DMV.

She was too cheap to order new monogrammed towels.