The royal family’s luxurious lifestyle captivates countless people. Opulent palaces, grand events, and lavish wardrobes make it seem like a dream. Individuals fantasize about being born into such privilege and splendor.
However, this glittering image doesn’t tell the whole story. For some members of royalty, the reality of their lives can be far from idyllic.
Decades ago, it was discovered that Queen Elizabeth II had two secret cousins, Katherine and Nerissa Bowes-Lyon.
But who were they, and why were they kept away from the royal family? Here’s what you need to know.
The identity of Queen Elizabeth II’s “hidden” cousins
Nerissa, born in 1919, and Katherine, born in 1926, were the third and fifth daughters of John and Fenella Bowes-Lyon. John was the elder brother of Queen Elizabeth, who later became the Queen Mother.
This familial connection placed Nerissa and Katherine within the royal circle, though they remained mostly out of the public eye due to their condition.
They were born with severe learning disabilities at a time when society’s views on disabilities were not as progressive as today. They did not learn to talk and were officially classified as “imbeciles.”
This condition was believed to be hereditary, descending from their maternal grandfather, Charles Trefusis, 21st Baron Clifton.
In 1941, when Nerissa was 22 and Katherine was 15, their family admitted them to the Royal Earlswood Hospital, a mental health institution in Redhill, Surrey.
The truth unlocked
In 1987, Nerissa’s death brought the sisters’ story to public attention. Journalists found that her grave was marked only by a plastic name tag and a serial number.
In the 1963 edition of Burke’s Peerage, a reference book on the nation’s aristocracy, Katherine and Nerissa were mistakenly listed as having died in 1940, though they were both still alive.
Nerissa died in 1986 at the age of 66, buried with minimal identification. Katherine stayed in the hospital until it closed in 1997 due to abuse claims. She then moved to a care home in Surrey, where she lived until her death in 2014 at the age of 87.
Their lives in Earlswood hospital
February 18th, 1919: Nerissa Bowes Lyon born https://t.co/yJhzgS04zs pic.twitter.com/g7OGzvVV8B
— Jackie (@BritFlorida) February 18, 2016
The hospital confirmed that Katherin and Nerissa were linked to the royal family following a report that appeared in The Sun.
At that time, Buckingham Palace said that the Queen had been briefed but declined to comment further, “We have no comment about it at all. It is a matter for the Bowes-Lyon family.”
Despite being born as aristocrats, neither woman ever received a family visit, according to a 2011 Channel 4 documentary titled The Queen’s Hidden Cousins. No one visited them, remembered their birthdays, or sent them Christmas cards.
Earlswood hospital was not such a happy place. Nurses and relatives of former inmates described it as regimented, with wards of 40 patients cared for by just two nurses. “You gave them a bath, cut their nails, and fed them if they needed help,” one nurse said.
During the program, Dot Penfold, a former ward sister at the sisters’ hospital, expressed sadness over their lack of visits for many years.
In 1963, Burke’s Peerage mistakenly listed both daughters of the royal family as deceased, despite their being alive. It’s unclear how much senior members of the Royal Family knew about this error or were involved.
According to The Telegraph, only hospital staff attended one daughter’s funeral, and her grave was marked with plastic tags and a serial number.
After the documentary aired, a Buckingham Palace source strongly disputed these claims.
“The Queen is deeply upset by this program, which she believes is entirely untrue,” the source stated. “Both Katherine and Nerissa received regular visits from their family. However, due to their conditions, they were unable to speak and had the cognitive abilities of young children throughout their lives.”
Lady Elizabeth Anson, a niece of the sisters, spoke on behalf of the Bowes-Lyon family to the BBC, stating there was no cover-up and emphasizing that many family members had visited the sisters.
How they were portrayed in The Crown
In episode seven of the fourth series, viewers meet the sisters for the first time. The episode opens with scenes of the Queen’s arrival at the Royal Variety Performance, broadcast on a TV in a hospital where Katherine and Nerissa watch.
They rise respectfully for the national anthem, now in their sixties, pausing only to take medication from a nurse.
The episode reveals their royal connection when Princess Margaret, played by Helena Bonham Carter, discovers their existence through a therapist’s inquiry about family members facing mental health challenges. Margaret later confronts the Queen Mother about her awareness of the sisters’ struggles.
“Locked up and neglected. They’re your nieces — daughters of your favorite brother,” she says.
“It’s wicked and it’s cold-hearted and it’s cruel and it’s entirely in keeping with the ruthlessness which I myself have experienced in this family.”