Jackie and Caroline Kennedy; Caroline Kennedy and Tatiana Schlossberg.Credit : Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty; Steve Eichner/WWD/Penske Media via Getty 

NEED TO KNOW

Following the death of Tatiana Schlossberg, Caroline Kennedy “has a playbook” for preserving her daughter’s memory, a family friend tells PEOPLE
Caroline, the daughter of John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy, has strength similar to her own mother, says the friend
“She will make sure that Tatiana is remembered, and that’s a gift, to have a family like that,” the friend says

As Caroline Kennedy mourns the death of her daughter, Tatiana Schlossberg, she, along with her close-knit family, faces heartbreak few could ever imagine.

Tatiana, the middle child of Caroline and her husband, Edwin Schlossberg, died on Tuesday, Dec. 30, at age 35, a little more than a month after publicly revealing that she had been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.

The news of her death was shared by the social media accounts for the JFK Library Foundation, on behalf of Tatiana’s family, which included her husband, Dr. George Moran, and their young children, Edwin and Josephine.

“Our beautiful Tatiana passed away this morning. She will always be in our hearts,” read the post, which was signed by “George, Edwin and Josephine Moran, Ed, Caroline, Jack, Rose and Rory.”

Tatiana Schlossberg attends Intelligencer Live: Our Warmer Future on Sept. 5, 2019, in New York City.Craig Barritt/Getty 

In the November 2025 essay for The New Yorker announcing her diagnosis, Tatiana lamented the fact that her children would be too young to be able to truly remember her after her death. Now, her family will be charged with keeping her memory alive — a responsibility that echoes something for which Caroline’s mother, Jackie Kennedy, will aways be remembered.

“Caroline is going to have to do for Tatiana’s children what Jackie had to do for her children: Keep the memory alive of their parent that they might not remember,” a Kennedy family friend tells PEOPLE.

Caroline, Jackie and John F. Kennedy.Bettmann

Caroline was just five days from her 6th birthday when her father, President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, on Nov. 22, 1963. Her younger brother, John F. Kennedy Jr., was just about to turn 3.

In the wake of JFK’s death, Jackie made it clear that her public role as a grieving first lady came second to her responsibilities to her children. More than six decades later, Caroline, 68, has a strong family support system — including her husband, son-in-law and her two surviving children, Rose and Jack. The courage she has quietly exemplified throughout her life is a reminder of her mother, who was devoted to making sure her husband would always be remembered.

“[Caroline] is going to end up having to do the same thing her mother did with her and John, along with Tatiana’s husband, in raising those kids,” the family friend says. “She’s going to have to try to preserve her memory and make sure they know about her and make sure they remember her.”

“It’s tragic,” they add, “and she has a playbook.”

Tatiana Schlossberg and Caroline Kennedy outside the JFK Library on May 22, 2000.Darren McCollester/Newsmakers via Getty 

Caroline’s grief and the history of tragedy in the Kennedy family was a specific point of anguish for Tatiana in her New Yorker essay.

“For my whole life, I have tried to be good, to be a good student and a good sister and a good daughter, and to protect my mother and never make her upset or angry,” she wrote. “Now I have added a new tragedy to her life, to our family’s life, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.”

The family friend tells PEOPLE there’s no doubt Caroline and the rest of Tatiana’s family will help her children remember her, and her remarkable courage, as best they can.

“What I know of Caroline is that she will carry Tatiana’s memory for the rest of her life,” they say. “She will make sure that Tatiana is remembered, and that’s a gift, to have a family like that.”

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Caroline, who lives a very private life, has yet to publicly share a statement about Tatiana’s death; however, Maria Shriver paid tribute to her cousin in her social media post about the loss.

“I cannot make sense of this. I cannot make any sense of it at all. None. Zero,” Shriver wrote. “My heart has always been with my cousin Caroline ever since we were little kids. My entire being is with her now. What a rock she has been.”

“Those of us left behind will make sure Eddie and Josie know what a beautiful, courageous spirit their mother was and will always be. She takes after her extraordinary mother, Caroline,” she contonued. “May we all hold Tatiana’s family in our collective embrace not just today, but in the days ahead, and may each of you who read this know how lucky you are to be alive right now. Please pause and honor your life. It truly is such a gift.”