Bastards and kings

Two seemingly unrelated events took place recently and now there’s renewed interest in the life and loves of assassinated United States President John Fitzgerald Kennedy. First, photographer Bert Sterns recreated, after 46 years, a Marilyn Monroe 1962 nude photo session later known as “The Last Sitting” with actress Lindsay Lohan as his model. The Lohan photos will come out in the New York Times magazine. You can’t mention Marilyn Monroe without giving JFK a passing thought.

The second event is the “discovery” of the identity of a man who claims to be the son of the late president. The story goes that a few years ago, a man named Jack Worthington, now 46, was informed by his mother that he was Kennedy’s son. According to the United Press International, Vanity Fair magazine had been quietly doing a story on Worthington for a year and a half. Then the gossipy New York Post blew the lid and published a story that Vanity Fair gave Senator Ted Kennedy a courtesy call prior to the publication of the story and the story never saw print. There’s the insinuation that the senator killed the story to avoid another family scandal.

How Vanity Fair discovered the Worthington paternity angle isn’t clear. The magazine had been doing a story on the paternal side of the family of Worthington’s mother, being “lifelong political allies” of Kennedy’s vice president and successor, Lyndon B. Johnson. For some reason, someone tripped on the illegitimate son angle. Worthington’s mother, who is still living but reportedly slamming the door on the press, was allegedly introduced to Kennedy by Johnson.

Worthington says Vanity Fair approached him and he agreed to do the story only after getting assurance that he would remain anonymous. As if, huh? At this point, he says he wants a DNA test to put finality to the issue. He also says that he is going on television to set the record straight. That doesn’t sound like a plea for anonymity to me.

Where it is all going is anyone’s guess. John F. Kennedy was not the first nor the only powerful man to sire an illegitimate child. And Worthington is not the first nor the only person to claim to be the child of a famous man. A decade or so ago, a young woman named Josephine publicly claimed that she was the daughter of Joseph Estrada. The physical resemblance is strong but, to this day, Estrada has not legally acknowledged her. Why neither opted for DNA tests is mind-boggling.

It set me wondering. There have been cases when adopted children had gone to so much trouble to find out who their biological parents were. There is an intense need to know, an obsessive craving to trace one’s roots. But with people who believe they already know who their parents are, like Worthington and Josephine, why is a public acknowledgment so important? For someone like me who grew up knowing both parents, it’s not easy to understand. Perhaps, it’s because I felt no lack and, therefore, had no gaps to fill. Apparently, there is a hole in the lives of people who grew up differently.

On the other hand, there have been cases too when claims of legitimacy or illegitimate paternity were rooted on money and/or power. Even during the medieval times in Europe, illegitimate children were important personages because they could be used as pawns in political games. Case in point, England’s House of Tudor. Henry VIII had six wives. His first marriage to the Spanish Princess Catherine of Aragon, who was also his brother’s widow, was annulled. His second wife, Anne Boleyn, was executed. His third wife, Jane Seymour, died of illness. All three wives bore him a child. Catherine gave birth to Mary, Anne bore Elizabeth and Jane was the mother of the male heir to the throne, Edward.

The line of succession was clear. Edward would be king after Henry. But Edward was a sickly boy. Who would rule after him? It was a time of war between Catholics and Protestants. The Protestants claimed that Henry’s first marriage was invalid and, therefore, Mary could not be a legitimate heir. The Catholics, on the other hand, claimed that the marriage was validly subsisting at the time that Henry married Anne Boleyn. The Boleyn marriage, therefore, was void ab initio and Elizabeth was a bastard child. The way Henry changed the laws so often, who could really say who was legitimate or illegitimate? The important thing was the acknowledgment. It was the acknowledgment that granted status and power.

That hasn’t changed in modern times. An acknowledged illegitimate child automatically earns a certain status and with it come privileges. The public acceptance by the parent, especially a wealthy and powerful one, opens a lot of doors. In the Philippines, if the parent is a politician, that can mean a lucrative political career for the illegitimate child. He doesn’t even need to work on it. The mere acknowledgment, the status of being a son or a daughter of someone famous, is enough. By some kind of osmosis, the fame, the power and the wealth rubs off on the offspring.

It’s not very different in other countries. President George W. Bush belongs to the second generation of politicians in his family. There have been so many Kennedys in government. I suppose it’s an offshoot of the Dark Ages. People are still benighted enough to believe that if the father was fit to rule, so are the sons and daughters. You know, as though the credentials of the parent naturally belong to the offspring as well. And that’s why our Congress is what it is.

In the archive

• What is pikot?
• Choices mothers make
• Roots to grow and wings to fly
• I have a lot to thank manga for
• Dorm or driving school?
• The relevance of homework
• The difference between a compromise and a negotiation
• Halloween and All Saints’ Day
• My bucket list
• Exploiting poverty