The British royal family certainly deals with scandals in modern times, but history also had them. Apart from rumors about the paternity of former prince Andrew, forebears went through something rather awful. Read on to find out more about Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon.
A Decades-Long secret
Per Utterly Interesting, for decades, folks in the UK believed that Nerissa and Katherine, who were cousins of The Queen Mother, had passed away. Apparently, it was thought that one of them passed away in about 1940 and the other in 1961. However, that was a blatant lie, and in 1987, some enterprising reporters discovered they’d been alive but stashed out of public view.
In fact, the royal family dumped them in a hospital for people with severe learning disabilities. And, they’d been there at the Royal Earlswood Hospital for most of their lives.
Naturally, people felt very shocked and it recalled other scandals from the often dark history of the family.
Who Were They?
If you don’t know, Nerissa and Katherine were daughters of John Herbert Bowes-Lyon, and he was the brother of the Queen Mother. Of course, that meant that Queen Elizabeth was their cousin.
Notably, they weren’t dumped in the facility for no reason at all. That’s because they really did struggle with some challenges, or at least as far as history can reveal. Both of them, it was claimed, suffered with severe developmental disabilities.
If you wonder if they were twins, they weren’t and there was about a seven year gap between them. It seems particularly interesting that when they were both admitted, they were either of marriageable or coming out age. That might have been a bit awkward to explain in high society back in the day
Both born just before and in the 1920’s, and they ended up in the hospital in 1941, and per Burke’s Peerage, they had already died before the 1970s.
Hidden Lives
When reporters dug into the story in the late 1980s, hospital staff revealed painful details. The sisters rarely, if ever, received visitors. They got no birthday gifts or cards from family. One former nurse said the family paid the fees, but personal involvement didn’t exist.
Good at covering up bad things back in the day, the royal family carried on as if nothing untoward happened. And think about this. Queen Elizabeth took over the throne in 1952, she must have known about it. Now-King Charles was born in 1948, so he must have also known about his secluded relatives.
Silent Lives Of The Firm
The royal family kept silent even in modern times and the women lived quiet, forgotten lives while the monarchy projected their flawless image to the world.
Compounding the awful story, reports suggested that in 1986, Nerissa passed away and was buried in a grave marked only with a plastic tag and a serial number. Plus, it was only because of outrage from ordinary folks that finally, she was given a tombstone in 2014.
When Katherine died in 2014, Prince Harry, you might recall, was launching his Invictus Games. Meanwhile, Prince William kept himself busy as an RAF search and rescue pilot. And former prince Andrew went to Bahrain with the British Trade delegation. Meanhwile Queen Elizabeth was busy with arrangements for her 88th April birthday.
Busy Royal Lives
Clearly, everyone was way too busy to bother about Katherine as reports arrived that the hospital staff mostly arranged her burial and attended the funeral..
Actually, it seems that the Queen Mother was lucky to be spared a similar life. Apparently, the Bowes-Lyon side of the family had a history of folks with disabilities or mental health conditions.
While it wasn’t unusual for the times, many critics feel that as a leading family in Britain, The Firm should have cleared up the story a lot sooner.
Why It Seems Awful To This Day
Most royal scandals are about affairs, or money, or the shenanigans of people like Andrew. But these days, the story seems shocking because it involved vulnerable women dumped and forgotten. Meanwhile, the ruling family lived lives of wealth and opulent extravagance.
Notably, the idea of two royal cousins living in permanent lockdown, denied even a touch of affection from the royal family, seems appalling now.
Were they victims of cruel royal secrecy, or simply caught in the harsh attitudes of another era? Not that the 1980s was all that long ago. What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below, and remember to come back here often for all your royal family news and updates.
The post Royal Family Scandals: The Decades-Long Mystery Of Forgotten Cousins first appeared on Celeb Baby Laundry.
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