Elizabeth II’s mentally ill cousins: how the royal family hid sisters in a mental hospital for life

1987 was a year of troubles and scandals in the royal family. First, the public learned about the unhappy marriage of Princess Diana and Prince Charles, then about their mutual infidelities, and then there was a discussion about whether Harry was Charles’ son.

Soon a new scandal: journalists discovered that Elizabeth II has two cousins ​​that no one has ever seen. This is because they have spent almost their entire lives in a mental institution.

It was about Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon, who by that time had long been on the dead lists, although both were more alive than all the living.

Nerissa and Catherine were born into the family of Sir John Herbert Bowes-Lyon, one of the older brothers of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, known as the Queen Mother.

Crowned her husband and daughter, died at 101: what was the life of Elizabeth II’s mother

John and his wife Fenella had five children. The eldest Patricia died in infancy, a few months after her death, the second daughter Anna was born, after some time, in 1919, a third girl was born, who was named Nerissa. Doctors immediately recognized the youngest child of the couple as mentally disabled, and therefore the young parents did not even begin to submit the traditional notification to The Times about the addition to the family. In 1923, Fenella gave birth again. And the girl again: fortunately, Diana turned out to be absolutely healthy. Another addition three years later: the newborn, who was named Katherine, was also diagnosed with dementia.

In February 1930, John died suddenly, leaving Fenella alone with four children, two of whom were seriously ill. Nerissa and Katherine grew up, and for many years the mother took care of the girls alone, although their development remained at the level of five years. They did not speak, only mumbled or uttered something unintelligible, moreover, both of them had problems with walking and coordination in space, because of which they had to be accompanied everywhere.

The family was sincerely worried that because of Nerissa and Catherine, Fenella would not be able to marry the beautiful and educated Anna and Diana. Like suitors, they will be afraid to enter into kinship with a family where they are mentally retarded. And then the woman was advised to send sick nurses to a psychiatric clinic. Fenella’s maternal grandfather promised to take care of all expenses.

In 1941, 22-year-old Nerissa and 15-year-old Katherine ended up in Earlswood Nursing Home in Surrey. By the way, the girls’ maternal cousins ​​- 29-year-old Idoneya, 27-year-old Rosemary and 19-year-old Ethelreda – were also sent to the clinic.

Nerissa and Katherine were first visited by their closest relatives. Their sister Anna also came, who arranged her personal life brilliantly and became a Danish princess. But in the 1960s, the girls were forgotten by everyone, including their own mother, and their names appeared on the lists of the dead.

In 1966, Fenella died and her family stopped funding the mental patients. How they survived the remaining years, only the hospital staff knows.

Nerissa died in 1986 at the age of 66. Her funeral was attended only by doctors from the clinic, and her relatives preferred to pretend that they were completely unaware of what had happened. The woman was not buried in the family crypt, but directly in the hospital cemetery. Above her grave was a plastic plate with a serial number.

Of course, when this story became public, the public wondered how the Queen Mother could allow her relative to live his life like this and be buried without proper honors. Elizabeth II also got it: subjects saw the hypocrisy in the fact that the queen was engaged in charitable work in various areas, but was ashamed of her relationship with the mentally ill nurses. The hype in the press forced the royal family to erect a monument at Nerissa’s grave.

In March 2014, it became known about the death of the second sister – Katherine Bowes-Lyon. She died aged 87 at the Surrey Clinic, where she had been transferred after Earlswood closed. It is not known who accompanied her on her last journey.

In 2011, a documentary film about Elizabeth II’s cousins ​​called The Queen’s Hidden Cousins ​​was released. The staff at the clinic where Nerissa and Katherine lived accused the royal family of cold-blooded indifference. “The sisters were like vegetables and no one remembered them. They didn’t even have normal personal clothing. They wore what they got,” said one of the nurses. Buckingham Palace has not responded to the allegations.

Historians agree that Nerissa and Katherine may have been born sick as a result of incest. It is believed that the sisters’ grandfather, Lord Clinton, and his wife, who passed down bad genes to the girls, are to blame.

See also: You definitely have not seen Princess Diana like this: Elizabeth II was furious because of her hooligan antics.

Photo: Legion media, social networks