Story behind the Queens hidden cousins erased from Royal Family and put inside mental health institution

2023-01-23

While 2022 had its fair share of royal scandals with the release of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s bombshell Netflix docu-series and the 2023 release of the Duke of Sussex’s memoir Spare, perhaps a lesser known Royal Family scandal was the Queen's 'hidden cousins'.

Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon were the daughters of John Herbert Bowes-Lyon and his wife Fenella, born in 1919 and 1926 respectively. John was the Queen Mother's brother, making the sisters the Queen’s first cousins. Neither, however, were ever allowed to join the Royal Family.

Following the passing of their father in 1930, Nerissa and Katherine, who were both born with significant learning disabilities, were both confined to a mental health facility. Labelled “imbeciles” by the medical terminology of the time, it remains uncertain what the sisters' diagnoses actually were.

They were sent to live out the remainder of their days at the Royal Earlswood Hospital in Redhill, Surrey.

The sisters were allegedly treated like they never existed by their extended family, which the family denies.

A 1963 edition of Burke’s Peerage (a definitive referencing and listing of the peerage and titled aristocracy) of Great Britain, shows Nerissa died in 1940, and Katherine in 1961. However, it was later claimed that Nerissa didn’t pass until 1986 at age 66, while Katherine survived until 2014, dying aged 87.

In the 2011 documentary ‘The Queen’s Hidden Cousins’, it was claimed that there was no evidence that any member of the Royal Family has visited the sisters or even sent them a Christmas or birthday card.

Nerissa was reportedly buried in a grave marked only with a name tag and serial number, with a funeral attended only by hospital staff. When the scandal was uncovered, Katherine was reportedly sent flowers from members of the public across the UK.

According to a report by the Associated Press, when Buckingham Palace was questioned about the scandal in 1987, a statement was released that said the Queen was aware of the report, but said: “We have no comment about it at all. It is a matter for the Bowes-Lyon family.”

The Bowes-Lyons publicly stated that the two women were not imprisoned but rather were receiving good care and were free to roam the hospital's premises.

There was "no attempt at a cover-up," according to Lady Elizabeth Anson, a niece of the two sisters, who spoke to the BBC on behalf of the Bowes-Lyon family. She also noted that other family members had visited the sisters.

The fourth season of the hit Netflix series The Crown featured a heartbreaking portrayal of the sisters' story. David Bowes-Lyon, whose father was the Queen Mother’s first cousin once removed, told The Telegraph at the time that the royals were “frustrated” with The Crown’s depiction.

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