Queen Elizabeth II had two "secret" cousins with severe disabilities that were hidden from the public, 1980

Queen Elizabeth II had two "secret" cousins with severe disabilities that were hidden from the public, 1980 




Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon were two daughters of John Herbery Bowes-Lyon and his wife, Fenella. John was the brother of Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the Queen Mother, so the two daughters were first cousins of Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret, sharing one pair of grandparents. Nerissa was born in 1919 and Katherine was born in 1926.

Both girls were born with severe learning and intellectual disabilities. In 1963 a magazine called Burke's Peerage claimed that Nerissa passed in 1940 and that Katherine passed in 1961. In 1987, it was revealed that the twins lived beyond that, and their story became the mainstream focus. 

Neither sister ever learned how to talk. They both resided in the Earlwood care home. Nurses that interviewed at the house claimed that the sisters never received any gifts, Christmas or birthday cards, or money and were never visited by any members of the Royal Family.  This was wildly outrageous, and it was made worse, as the sister's aunt, the Queens Mother, was a patron fit a charity for people with learning difficulties. 

Nerissa died in 1986, and a plastic tag and serial number marked her grave and was only given a headstone when her identity was made public. No Royal family member attended her funeral. Katherine died in 2014. 

Source: Independent

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