EXCLUSIVE: Kennedy Family Rocked by Love Child Bombshell! Secret Daughter of William Kennedy Smith Emerges After Nasty Battle Over $85Million Fortune
A secret daughter of William Kennedy Smith is believed to have been revealed.
Nov. 2 2025, Published 8:00 a.m. ET
RadarOnline.com can reveal a secret love child – an heir with a legitimate claim to the Kennedy family fortune – has been unearthed after a brutal five-year court battle over the $85million estate of one of John F. Kennedy's sisters.
After sifting through hundreds of pages of court documents, RadarOnline.com discovered the late Jean Kennedy Smith listed a secret granddaughter as a beneficiary to her massive estate – and that the child's father is none other than her scandal-scarred son William Kennedy Smith.
As longtime RadarOnline.com readers know, the well-heeled Kennedy kid was infamously acquitted of raping a woman at a family compound in Palm Beach, Florida, in 1991 after a highly publicized trial.
William Kennedy Smith Is Said to Have a Secret Child
William Kennedy Smith was identified in court as the father of Kathleen Ann McMahon's daughter, Kate Squier.
Meanwhile, raven-haired beauty Kate C. Squier was born in 1997 – about six years after Smith dodged jail time on the Florida rape charge and morphed into the head of the Chicago-based nonprofit Physicians Against Landmines/Center for International Rehabilitation to help victims maimed by explosive devices.
Squier, whose mother is Kathleen Ann McMahon, uses the last name of her mom's current husband but is referred to in court documents as Kate Squier, aka Kate McCann. Squier and her mom were unavailable for comment by the time of publication despite repeated attempts by publications to get their side of the story.
College grad Squier, who works as a publicist in Washington, D.C., is the spitting image of her notorious 65-year-old dad – but does not carry the famous Kennedy clan name the way William's other three children, with wife Anne Henry, do.
The Secret Child is Now Grown... Believed to be Working as a Publicist
Jean Kennedy Smith reportedly listed then secret granddaughter Squier as a beneficiary of her $85million estate.
He married Anne in 2011.
"Kate is an open secret among the Kennedys," an insider claimed to RadarOnline.com. "The whole situation was difficult for Jean, and it caused a lot of pain in the family."
The spirited young Kennedy scion states on her LinkedIn page: "As a passionate and versatile communications professional, I specialize in crafting and executing dynamic publicity campaigns that drive attention, engagement, and results. I thrive at the intersection of entertainment, media, and storytelling."
Her social media pages, which did not include a photo of her dad, went largely private after publications contacted her.
Former ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith appointed Carter Hood and Charles J. O'Byrne as executors of her estate.
Kate was conceived around the time that Smith was accused of sexually harassing six female employees while running the Chicago-based nonprofit. Smith vehemently denied those allegations but resigned from his position in August 2004.
The current legal scramble erupted after Jean, the onetime prez's baby sister and former ambassador to Ireland, died at age 92 in 2020 and named her son-in-law, Carter Hood, and longtime confidant and former Catholic priest Charles J. O'Byrne as executors of her vast estate.
"It's not an accident that Jean had a son who was a lawyer and a son who was a doctor, but she chose very deliberately to make other people her executors," said the insider to explain why William's relatively unknown brother, Stephen E. Smith Jr., was not made executor.
Legal Drama Ensues
A New York court ruled William must repay $1.2million from a disputed family loan.
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The long-running court battle has included an attempt by the estate to collect $3.6million in principal and interest from William for borrowing money from his mother in 2016, and his unsuccessful attempt to oust O'Byrne as a trustee for his mom's multimillion-dollar New York City apartment.
Despite a New York Surrogate Court judge shooting down William's attempt to boot O'Byrne, the court ruled that he only owed $1.2million, thanks to a partial payment he made in 2024.
The Kennedy estate sought $3.6million from William Kennedy Smith over a 2016 family loan.
However, the case continues to drag on, with O'Byrne and Hood filing a notice of appeal to challenge the amount William still owes on the loan.
When confronted by publications with the revelation of his illegitimate daughter, William declined comment and instead directed his attorney to send a letter stating: "Your allegations against Dr. Smith are false and defamatory."
