The Kennedy Family is dealing with yet another heartbreaking tragedy as Robert F Kennedy's granddaughter Saoirse Kennedy Hill has died of a suspected drug overdose.

Saoirse's family said their 'hearts were shattered' by the 22-year-old's death and said her life was 'filled with hope, promise and love.'

The devastating news is the latest in a long line of tragedies the family have faced, including plane crashes, deaths on live TV and medical problems.

Two of the family's most horrifying tragics – the assassinations of President John F Kennedy and his younger brother Robert – were very, very public and news of the events were reported around the world.

President John F Kennedy was assassinated as he waved to crowds from open car driving through Dallas, Texas, with his wife Jackie.

Two hours after the assassination Jackie had to watch his successor’s inauguration while still wearing the pink suit stained with his blood.

Before the historical moment, which was photographed, she wiped some of the blood off her face but instantly regretted it.

She later said: "One second later, I thought, 'Why did I wash the blood off?' I should have left it there; let them see what they've done.”

His killer Lee Harvey Oswald was gunned down at a police station two days later.

Just five years later JFK's younger brother and his attorney general Robert was also assassinated after he won the California Democratic primary. The gunman, Sirhan Sirhan, remains in a prison in California.

The gunman, Sirhan Sirhan, remains in a prison in California.

While these two tragedies received publicity around the world, they were far from the only heartbreak the family have suffered over the years.

In light of the most recent devastating news. we've looked back at some of the victims of the Kennedy Curse.

JFK son's plane death

John F Kennedy Jr, along with his wife, Carolyn Bessette, and sister-in-law, Lauren Bessette, were killed in a plane crash on July 16, 1999.

The trio were on their way to Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, when the plane JFK Jr was flying went into the Atlantic Ocean.

An investigation into the tragedy concluded that Kennedy had become disorientated while flying over the featureless water at night at lost control of the plane.

Just six weeks before take off Kennedy had fractured his foot and had only had his cast removed the day before the fatal flight. He was still walking with a limp.

And the trio's departure for their trip to Martha's Vineyard had been delayed.

They should have set off during the day but Lauren was delayed at work and then traffic on the way to the airfield meant they didn't take off until it was dark.

Possibly to make up time, Kennedy chose the shortest path to his destination across a 30-mile stretch of open water, rather than staying close to the shoreline, which would have provided light on the ground.

Following the deaths of Kennedy, his wife and sister-in-law, his uncle, Ted, said: "WE dared to think, in that other Irish phrase, that this John Kennedy would live to comb grey hair, with his beloved Carolyn by his side.

"But like his father he had every gift but years."

Kennedy was just 38 when he died.

Ted Kennedy's near miss

In 1964, 35 years before his nephew's fatal plane crash, Ted Kennedy was involved in a tragedy in the skies.

JFK's brother, and fellow politician, was on his way to accept the nomination for a full-term at the Senate when the 'curse' struck.

Ted, then 32, was travelling with the Democratic Convention's keynote speaker, Senator Birch Bayh, Bayh's wife, Marvella, his legislatiev aide, Edward Moss, and pilot, Edwin Zimny.

Just three miles from the runway, and just minutes after take off, the plane hit some trees and crashed into an orchard.

It had been flying too low and Moss and Zimny were killed instantly.

Senator Bayh escaped almost unhurt and once he had pulled his wife from the wreckage of the plane, returned to rescue Ted.

He had broken three vertebrae, two ribs and his lung had collapsed – but he survived.

Ted was treated in hospital for the next five months.

Mary Kennedy's tragic suicide

The troubled former wife of Robert F Kennedy Jr was found hanged in a barn at her home in 2012 by her distraught housekeeper.

Architect and designer Mary, 52, had been living alone as a recluse since her marriage broke down two years previously.

In a statement, the family said she “inspired us with her kindness, her love, her gentle soul and generous spirit”.

They added: “Mary was a genius at ­friendship, a tremendously gifted architect and a pioneer and relentless advocate of green design who enhanced her cutting-edge, energy efficient creations with ­exquisite taste and style.

“Our heart goes out to her children who she loved without ­reservation.”

As her devastated family absorbed the horrific news, a picture emerged of a woman who had battled drugs and alcohol in the years since she became a Kennedy in 1994.

She had known the clan for years through her friendship with Robert Jr’s sister Kerry who she met at boarding school, and Mary was her maid of honour in 1990.

In a statement after the tragic news broke, Kerry said: “She’s my best friend. Our whole family is devastated by the loss and we ­appreciate everyone’s prayers.”

Mary had experienced darker moments, including her arrest in 2010 on a charge of drink-driving. 

She was also charged later that year with driving under the influence of drugs, but that was dismissed.

Three years before that Mary was in the headlines again when she was taken by her husband to hospital for ­treatment but resisted and ran screaming from the car.

A witness recalled: “I remember she was acting kind of out of it, kind of crazy, she was running into the street and flailing her arms around. He was trying to restrain her.”

Mary married Bobby in a ceremony aboard a boat on the Hudson river. He filed for divorce in 2010.

Her ex-husband, a prominent ­environmentalist and the third-eldest of Bobby’s 11 children, had been living in California and dating TV actress Cheryl Hines.

Mary was buried near her husband's aunt and uncle Eunice and Sargent Shriver but seven weeks later her body was exhumed and reburied in a Cape Cod cemetery 700 feet from her original grave.

Robert Kennedy Jr reportedly asked that Mary Kennedy be reburied on a hilltop surrounded by empty plots he is negotiating to buy.

Rosemary Kennedy

Prone to mood swings and violent outbursts as a teenager, her parents were told she would benefit from brain surgery.

But the lobotomy performed on the 23-year-old reduced her mentality to that of an infant. Incapacitated for the rest of her life, she died in a care home in 2005, aged 86.

War hero death

JFK’s older brother, Joe Kennedy Jr, was killed in an air disaster in World War Two.

He had volunteered to pilot a deadly and secret bombing mission in France in 1944.

But during the dangerous mission, his bomber aircraft was rocked by two in-flight explosions and the two pilots, includingJoe, were killed.

Killed in a storm

Just four years after he lost his brother in an air tragedy, JFK lost his sister, Kathleen, who was known as Kick.

She had married William Cavendish, the Marquess of Harrington in 1944 and was now Lady Harrington.

Just four months after the couple wed, Cavendish was killed while fighting in World WarTwo.

In 1948, Kick was flying from Paris to the French Riviera on holiday with her friend, Lord Harrington, who she was romantically involved with.

The plane flew through the centre of a storm and its wings were ripped off when the pilot suddenly tried to pull up.

All four on board were killed.

Chappaquiddick death

The Chappaquiddick tragedy followed Ted Kennedy for his entire political career.

In 1969, five years after his near-fatal plane crash, Ted was driving his campaign worker Mary Jo Kopechne home after a party.

He lost control of the car and crashed into water.

Kennedy was able to swim ashore but Mary Jo was trapped inside.

rather than alerting police immediately, Ted walked back to his hotel and didn’t call officers until 10 hours after the fatal crash.

He pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and was handed a two-month suspended sentence.

Ted tried to explain what he had done by saying: “All kinds of scrambled thoughts went through my mind, including such questions as whether some awful curse did actually hang over the Kennedys.” 

David A Kennedy

Started using drugs after witnessing the shooting of his father, Robert.

His habit slowly spiralled out of control. He died aged 28 of an overdose in 1984.

He was found in a Florida hotel room after overdosing on cocaine, painkillers and anti-psychotic medicine.

Michael Kennedy

Robert's son was embroiled in a scandal when, in 1997, he was investigated for statutory rape after an alleged affair with a 14-year-old.

He died later that year, aged 39, in a skiing accident in Colorado where he crashed into a tree.

Cousin accused of murder

Bobby Kennedy’s nephew, Michael Skakel, was convicted of committing a murder when he was just 15.

In 1975 he bludgeoned his neighbour, Martha Moxley, to death while in a jealous rage.

He finally faced justice in 2002 but was granted a new trial in 2013 and freed on bail.

Still born son and miscarriages

First Lady Jackie suffered a number of heartbreaking pregnancies before her husband was murdered.

While her third and fourth pregnancies brought her the couple's children Caroline and John, the others ended in miscarriage and still birth.

Her first pregnancy ended in a miscarriage in 1955.

She fell pregnant again the following year, but had a stillborn baby girl who the couple decided to name Arabella.

Her fifth pregnancy also ended in tragedy, when the couple's son Patrick Bouvier Kennedy was born three weeks early.

Despite doctors' best efforts, little Patrick passed away when he was just thirty-nine hours old.

Kennedy went to the hospital's boiler room and cried. Jackie was too frail to attend the funeral.

During the service Jack took off his Saint Christopher's medal given to him as a wedding present and placed it on his son's white coffin.

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