The sisters were unfortunate to have been born in an era when mental disability was seen as a threat to society and linked to promiscuity, feckless breeding and petty crime, the characteristics of the underclass; associations encouraged by popular belief in the science of eugenics, soon to be embraced by the Nazis. According to the documentary, the royal … Believed to be … They didn’t have any speech but they’d point and make noises, and when you knew them, you could understand what they were trying to say. Neglected, hidden, and registered as dead: 'The Crown' season 4 tells the tragic tale of the Queen's "hidden" cousins. The sisters’ story came to light in 1987, shortly after Nerissa’s death, when journalists discovered she was buried in a grave marked only by a plastic name tag and serial number. At the time, Buckingham palace said the Queen was aware of the report but added: “We have no comment about it at all. Just think of the life they might have had. The comments below have not been moderated. She later died aged 87 in 2014. Upon hearing of their struggles, Margaret is later shown confronting the Queen Mother about her knowledge of the sisters. Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group, PrettyLittleThing - Offers on women's clothing, Get inspired by the newest styles and offers, Click through for ASOS promo codes this Autumn, Spend less with Missguided's exclusive codes, Treat yourself to offers on make-up and accessories, Check out the latest Wayfair sale to save on furniture, The only Englishman to win the Iron Cross. Mother realizes her 'dream' of becoming surrogate by carrying her brother's baby after his wife was told... AirPup! The condition was thought to have been hereditary and descended from their common maternal grandfather, Charles Trefusis, 21st baron Clifton. Katherine, born in 1926, and Nerissa, born in 1919, were the daughters of John Herbert Bowes-Lyon – the brother of the Queen Mother – and his wife, Fenella. During a session with her therapist, she discovers that she and Queen Elizabeth have two cousins who have been hidden from them—and from everyone. The five cousins were placed in … Katherine received no visitors at the asylum, and as her aunt, the Queen Mother, lived on into cosseted old age, she did not possess even her own underwear – at least untilher final years there – and had to dress from a communal wardrobe. Nerissa (pictured) was born in 1919, and Katherine in 1926 - their father was John Bowes-Lyon, one of the Queen Mother's older brothers. Nerissa was born in 1919, and Katherine in 1926. 5. ‘I’d get that gripping feeling of dread,’ Judy explains, and she remembers feeling puzzled that her sister was always wearing the same green coat, which never seemed to wear out. ‘They were no problem to look after but they were mischievous, like naughty children. “The Queen is very, very upset at the thought that this programme is being made which is just not true,” the source said. The new series begins as the 1970s are drawing to a close and takes viewers through to 1990, a period during which the royal family were involved in a number of major scandals, including the illicit relationship between Prince Charles and Camilla. Speaking in the program, Dot Penfold, a former ward sister at the hospital where the sister’s stayed, spoke of her sadness that they were not visited for years. In 1963, the Bowes-Lyon family reported to Burke’s Peerage, the guidebook to … Who were the Queen’s cousins? Doch der Buckingham Palast gab keinen Kommentar ab. Sabrina Barr Sunday 15 Nov 2020 1:01 pm. You could scream at her and she’d turn a deaf ear.’, Katherine, 85, is still alive and is believed to be living in a care home in Surrey. Obviously there was some sort of memory. Lady Elizabeth Anson, a niece of the two sisters, also issued a statement to the BBC on behalf of the Bowes-Lyon family saying that “there was no attempt at a cover-up” and that many family members had visited the sisters. Viewers are introduced to the sisters in episode seven of the fourth series. Pippa Middleton wraps up in a patterned coat and sunglasses as she takes two-year-old son... Denim dream! “Both Katherine and Nerissa were visited very regularly by their family but neither could speak, and throughout their lives had the thinking age of four years old.”. Now she realises that the inmates wore their own clothes only if they had visitors. Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. While many members of the royal family knew about Katherine and Nerissa, the majority believed they had died, including Queen Elizabeth II. “Locked up and neglected. Only none were forthcoming in The Queen's Hidden Cousins (Channel 4); unless by secrets you include a story that was all over the tabloids in 1987. The story reared its head again in 2011 when a Channel 4 documentary, titled The Queen’s Hidden Cousins, was made about the five Bowes-Lyon girls. Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon were the respective third and fifth daughters of John and Fenella Bowes-Lyon. The story reared its head again in 2011 when a Channel 4 documentary, titled The Queen’s Hidden Cousins, was made about the five Bowes-Lyon girls. The program meant a new generation of people were outraged by the scandal, as the documentary suggested the cousins had been treated callously by the royal family. Nerissa died aged 66 in 1986 and was buried in a grave marked only with a name tag and serial number. When the story of the five girls was revealed in 1987, journalists frantically contacted Buckingham Palace to get a statement from the queen about her cousins, Nerissa and Katherine. http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-queens-hidden-cousins Two of four daughters of John Bowes-Lyon (the Queen Mother's older brother), Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon were born in 1919 and … “The impression I had was that they’d been forgotten,” she recalled. Why I said no to fame: After starring in A Room With A View Rupert Graves was tipped for Hollywood greatness –... 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A one-off ITV special, called The Queen and her Cousins, lets viewers into the hidden side of Her Majesty, as some of her closest relatives lift the lid on what she’s like behind closed doors. Which of course, it was. Their last reported visitors were in the 1960s, and although it was an open secret at the Royal Earlswood, and in the local community, that the asylum housed close relatives of the Royal Family, to the wider world their existence had been obliterated. Their connection to the royal family comes to light in the episode when Princess Margaret, played by Helena Bonham Carter, learns of the sisters’ existence from a therapist, who asks the royal if she is aware of any relations struggling with mental health issues. The Independent has contacted Buckingham Palace for comment. Search: About. Crippen researches the Queen’s ‘hidden’ cousins. ), The imposing Royal Earlswood was the country’s first purpose-built asylum for people with learning disabilities. John, also known as Jock,was the older brother of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, who would later become the Queen mother. What was more “unforgivable”—what happened in episode seven or in real life? ‘I never saw anybody come,’ says Dot Penfold. Want an ad-free experience?Subscribe to Independent Premium. Who were the Queen’s hidden cousins, Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon? Katherine and Nerissa had been listed in the 1963 edition of Burke's Peerage – a reference book to the nation’s aristocracy – as having died in 1940, when in fact they were both still alive. Nerissa’s medical records categorise her as ‘imbecile’. The date was 29 July, 1981, Prince Charles and Lady Di’s wedding day, and as the Queen arrived at St Paul’s Cathedral and waved to the crowds, two women in late middle-age, in shapeless, baggy dresses, shuffled with clumsy gait up to the television and waved and saluted back to her, unable to articulate speech but making excited noises. There have been enough examples on the Windsor side alone to worry people…if you add the Bowes-Lyon illnesses to that, the danger is it becomes untenable.”. James Cutler/Shutterstock . Can you imagine the headlines if it were to get out? In The Crown, the Queen Mother, played by Marion Bailey, tries to defend the decision to fake their deaths, telling Margaret that her brother’s children paid a “terrible price” as she went from being the wife of the Duke of York to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. Here is everything you need to know. ‘She makes unintelligible noises all the time,’ stated a doctor. Their shocking story came to light shortly after Nerissa’s death, when journalists discovered she was buried in a grave marked only by a plastic name-tag and a serial number. … ‘If the Queen or Queen Mum were ever on television, they’d curtsey – very regal, very low. It is not known when she discovered the truth, but following a Channel 4 programme in 2012 she was reportedly upset by suggestions that the pair had been abandoned. Writers claim that the Queen accepted the lie that her cousins were dead and not being hidden away. Want to kick your fitness up a gear? However, the breakdown of the Prince of Wales’ marriage was not the most shocking incident the family had to deal with, as in 1987, it was discovered that Queen Elizabeth II had two “hidden” cousins: Katherine and Nerissa Bowes-Lyon. Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon were admitted to the Royal Earlswood psychiatric hospital in … A spokesman said ‘It is a matter for the Bowes-Lyon family’. Their father was John Bowes-Lyon, one of the Queen Mother’s older brothers and a son of the Earl of Strathmore. Photographs of Katherine Bowes-Lyon show a distinct resemblance to the Queen, and Onelle Braithwaite says the sisters’ story was common knowledge when she arrived at the asylum as a 20-year-old nurse in the mid-1970s. In fact, Nerissa did not die until 1986, aged 66, and Katherine is still alive; at 85, she is the same age as the Queen. Their cousins Idonea, Etheldreda and Rosemary – the daughters of Fenella’s sister, Harriet – also had a similar disability, and were admitted to the state-funded hospital on the same day. But, why? The three maternal cousins were the sisters Idonea Fane (1912 – 2002), Rosemary Fane (1914 – 1972), and Etheldreda Fane (1922 – 1996), the daughters of Harriet Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis and Henry Fane. Burke’s Peerage had declared them both to be long dead, on misinformation supplied by the family. “At the same time my family, the Bowes-Lyons, went from being minor Scottish aristocrats to having a direct bloodline to the crown, resulting in the children of my brother paying a terrible price,” she says. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. 2011 zeigte der TV-Sender Channel 4 die Dokumentation „The Queen’s Hidden Cousins“ und brachte die Königsfamilie in Erklärungsnot. Katherine was a scallywag. The hospital confirmed that Katherin and Nerissa were linked to the royal family following a report that appeared in The Sun. It was a poignant moment, recalls Onelle Braithwaite, one of the nurses who cared for them. The fourth season of The Crown gives fans of the royal family a detailed look at some of the most significant moments in their public and private lives. The Queen’s Hidden Cousins, Channel 4, Thursday, 9pm. John Herbert "Jock" Bowes-Lyon (1 April 1886 – 7 February 1930) was the second son of the 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne and the Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and the brother of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (the future Queen Elizabeth and later the Queen Mother). Katherine Bowes-Lyon was the Queen… Nerissa Bowes-Lyon (18 February 1919 – 22 January 1986) and Katherine Bowes-Lyon (4 July 1926 – 23 February 2014) were two of the daughters of John Herbert Bowes-Lyon and his wife Fenella (née Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis). The True Story Of The Queen's Hidden Cousins In 'The Crown' Esquire| 11-18 In a season of The Crown in which the Royals reach new heights of icy heartlessness, probably the most callous episode involves Katherine and Niressa Bowes-Lyon. The Royal Earlswood was closed in 1997; at least one former nurse has alleged patients were abused. He was an uncle to Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret, although he died when she was a small child. ‘Very affectionate… can say a few babyish words.’. https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/royal-family/the-crown- The Crown: How Queen Elizabeth's Cousins Secretly Lived in a Psychiatric Hospital. Take another look at the family tree. For the Bowes-Lyons, this was a stigma that could threaten their social standing and taint the marital prospects of their other children. Criticism of the queen. Judy Wilkinson, 67, from Godalming, Surrey, recalls her apprehension when visiting the Royal Earlswood as a young girl in the 1950s, when her elder sister Nicola, who was brain-damaged at birth, was consigned there. A Channel 4 documentary that is believed to expose hidden truths about the royal family, has incurred the Queen's wrath.
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