Mary Kennedy is exhumed and reburied

Seven weeks after she hanged herself, Mary Richardson Kennedy was reburied in a Cape Cod cemetery 700 feet from her original grave near other Kennedy family members.

Frank Maki, superintendent of the St Francis Xavier Cemetery near Hyannisport, said that Robert Kennedy's estranged wife was exhumed earlier this month.

She was first buried on May 19 near her husband's aunt and uncle, Eunice Kennedy Shriver and Sargent Shriver.

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

Robert Kennedy is the son of the former US Senator, Attorney General who was assassinated during the 1968 presidential campaign.

The 52-year-old mother of four hanged herself on May 16 in a barn by the couple's home in New York's Westchester County amid bitter divorce proceedings, after he won temporary custody of their four children, ages 11 to 18.

Since he filed for divorce two years ago, her battle against drug and alcohol addiction included an arrest for driving while intoxicated. A report showed she had antidepressants in her system when she died.

In a court affidavit linked to their divorce, Mr Kennedy claimed his wife beat him, threatened suicide in front of her children, ran over the family dog and drank until she passed out.

The Richardson family said his account was filled with lies.

They lost a court fight to bury her at a location of their choosing.

The Cape Cod cemetery is in Centerville, near the Kennedy compound in Hyannisport.

Mary Kennedy's relatives did not attend the funeral Robert Kennedy organised in Bedford, New York, the Westchester County town where they lived.

After her burial, the Richardsons organised a private tribute to her in Manhattan.

Photos show her new grave near the cemetery entrance is marked by small religious statues and two American flags.

AP