Princess Elizabeth's daughter exclusively for Telegraf: My mom told me I was Kennedy's daughter

Late last year, Christina Oxenberg, the daughter of Princess Elizabeth Karadjordjevic, a relative of the British royal family and sister of Hollywood actress Katherine Oxenberg, shocked everyone by releasing some juicy details from the lives of her parents and family. She spoke, among other things, about the affair her mother allegedly had with the assassinated US President John F. Kennedy, that he died thinking Christina was his daughter, and that her father Howard Oxenberg went to Washington with a gun when he found out his wife was cheating on him.

What the real truth is in all of this, what impact the affair had on her family and her relationship with her mother - Christina Oxenberg talks about this in an exclusive interview for Telegraf.rs.

• You said you were 14 when your mother told you you were Kennedy's daughter. How did that conversation start, what exactly did your mother tell you and what was your reaction?

The conversation began with my mother saying, "There's an old saying, you always know who your mother is, but you can never be sure about your father."

Everything my mother told me and my reaction is a long story, because I remember every word. In a state of shock, memory can work as a recording device. She told me that I was John Kennedy's daughter and "not to tell anyone because they would kill me; people like killing the Kennedys."

I was horrified, but I kept my feelings to myself. I knew she would stop talking if I showed any sign of being upset. So I listened to everything she had to say and made her believe that I was happy about the news. I lied to her and told her it was good news because it explained Howard Oxenberg's sadistic behavior towards me.

The truth is, I was horrified. I was scared and heart-broken.

• You mentioned that your father Howard Oxenberg took a gun and went to Washington. When exactly did this happen and did he manage to get near Kennedy? How did all this affect your family and especially your relationship with your father?

My father told me he flew from New York to Washington with a gun. He told me his intention was to confront Kennedy because of a public affair that had with Elizabeth. He told me that he knew about the affair, which somehow confirms the version my mother told several years earlier, and he believed that my mother's new pregnancy was the result of her affair with Kennedy. He told me that he didn't want anything to do with me even before I was born.

I was 20 or 21 when we had this conversation, he insisted that we talk about it. I heard him out...

It seemed to me that he was looking for my understanding for treating me badly with my entire life. He explained the reasons why he was always tough with me, he was upset about the way my mother treated him. He told me that because I look like my mother, when he saw me he would remember it and he get mad again. He directed his anger towards me.

He told me he flew to Washington, checked into a hotel room and got drunk. And then he passed out. He had a change of heart in the morning and returned to New York. I don't know if he ever told my mother this story. But he told me and I was shocked. He seemed to have been looking for my understanding.

He didn't ask me how I felt. He never apologized to me for treating me horribly. He told me the reasons why it was fine for him to treat me sadistically my entire life. He was merely justifying his actions.

• Have you ever tried to confirm your mother's statement? What happened in the years after she told you about the affair and how come you never said anything about it for decades? Why did you decide to speak right now?

It's been over 30 years, and I have and haven't tried, in different ways. When she told me I was his daughter, she added that I would be killed. She said, I quote, "People kill the Kennedys."

The reason I decided to speak about this now is because I'm so old enough and will die in any case, so I don't care anymore about keeping other people's secrets for their own good. I don’t care about death threats at this point, I’m old and in pain, maybe it’s a graceful way to go.

I use the details of my ugly life story in my new book, "Secrets" which can be found online. My horrible life is great material and it will sell the book. I'll make money, just like everyone else. I have no inheritance, neither from your Princess Elizabeth, nor from the Oxenbergs or the Kennedys.

• Has your mother tried to contact you since you published the story about Kennedy and other articles about her (including the story about her third husband and that she tried to kill him)?

No, my mother has not contacted me directly regarding anything I wrote except on one occasion. It was a story I published about her and her third husband, a Peruvian politician. In this story, I explained how my mother went to see a psychic, whom she asked if she had the power to bring down the plane her husband was supposed to fly on. I claim that my mother was trying to cause an accident by using spells. Elizabeth "liked" that story. I have a screenshot.

Otherwise she blocked me on social media.

• You said you only met your mother a few times in the past decades. Are you in touch in any other way? What did she say to you when you last met?

My mother and I have had minimal interaction for 30 years. I email her periodically, but she never replies. Our last communication was when she sent me a contract. It stipulated that if I wanted to be in her life, I must sign it and obey all her rules. The rules were so ridiculous that I didn't even bother replying to her stupid request.

• How do you feel now that you have opened up and spoken about all the secrets that had been buried for decades?

What I feel is a combination of relief, embarrassment, sadness and acceptance. If I had a choice, I'd rather have had a loving family and an inheritance. But it's not up to me. So I'm alone and looking out for myself. I am responsible for myself and do the best I can.

• Did you believe your mother when she told you you were a descendant of the Kennedys?

No one has ever asked me that, but I personally don't believe that Kennedy is my father. I think this was a delusion of my mother's, who slept with him. John Kennedy had sex with hundreds of women. My mother believed she was special to him. And then she got pregnant and told him she was carrying his baby. That's how he learned the news. And that's how the news got inside the Kennedy family. They didn't hear it from me.

(A. M.)