In this story: John and Caroline 2 siblings, 2 paths RELATED STORIES, SITES

July 19, 1999
Web posted at: 11:25 p.m. EDT (0325 GMT)

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg is the last survivor of Camelot's first family: Her father slain by an assassin, her mother gone and now her brother apparently killed in a plane crash.

But Schlossberg may find it harder to maintain her privacy in the future.

When John F. Kennedy was president and Caroline rode a pony across the White House grounds, she was the most photographed child in America.

Since departing Washington, Schlossberg has aimed to lead a private, normal life. Not an easy ambition for a Kennedy.

Married to Edwin Schlossberg, Caroline is now 41, with three children, Rose, 11, Tatiana, 9, and John, 6.

Schlossberg was extremely close to her brother. Sibling support helped them cope with the assassinations of their father in 1963 and their uncle in 1968.

They adjusted when their mother married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis. They did well in private schools in New York, avoiding the drugs and scandals that plagued other Kennedys in Massachusetts.

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis tried to shield her children from the prying public.

But when she became the darling of magazine and tabloid covers, it seemed inevitable that daughter Caroline would succeed her one day as the Kennedy icon.

Instead, it was JFK Jr. who captured the public eye -- or was captured by it.

The brother was the longtime eligible, attractive bachelor who graced one magazine cover as the "sexiest man alive."

JFK Jr. got his law degree, struggled to pass the bar, spent a couple of years as an assistant prosecutor and then became the publisher of George, a trendy, "with it" magazine.

Meanwhile, Caroline quietly obtained her law degree, raised a family and worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. She could be spotted riding the subway and walking her kids to school.

Her brother addressed the Democratic National Convention in 1988, but she declined to serve as convention chairwoman four years later.

And while JFK Jr. walked out to talk to reporters camped outside the Fifth Avenue building where their mother died in May 1994, Caroline Kennedy kept her thoughts to herself.

She also appeared at arts events, once co-chairing a gala fund-raiser for the American Ballet Theater. And last spring she presented an award to Hillary Rodham Clinton at Lincoln Center.

Caroline Kennedy images

Even the public life she chose kept her private life under wraps.

In 1995, she co-authored a book with a law school classmate about privacy law entitled "The Right to Privacy." And while she was happy to chat with reporters about the legal concepts it explored, she deflected personal questions.

During a 1995 appearance on CNN's Larry King Live, she talked about the importance of privacy.

"The press is coming up against something that is very fragile, and that is personal and individual solitude and dignity," said Schlossberg.

"Justice (Louis) Brandeis called it the 'right to be left alone,' and I think that it's something that people take seriously here, and it's definitely under attack," she said.

In an age when it seems that just about everyone wants to be famous, Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg chose to go in the other direction.

That was possible as long as her brother was there to quench the public thirst for a visible legacy of Camelot.

But now, Caroline is the only legacy left.

Correspondent Garrick Utley and The Associated Press contributed to this report.