Tragedies That Shook Royal Families Around The World

Queen Elizabeth’s Disabled Cousins Were Disowned And Sent To A Mental Asylum

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When the Queen Mother’s nieces were born, Katherine and Nerissa Bowes-Lyon, everything appeared normal. However, as they both grew, it was apparent the children had difficulties. The pair, born a few years apart but both suffering from mental impairments that made them unable to articulate speech, were shipped off to Royal Earlswood Asylum for Mental Defectives in 1941.

The family declared them dead to Burke’s Peerage, the authority on royal genealogy. However, the sisters lived in care for the entirety of their lives, with their last visitor coming in the 60’s. Shunned by their family, Nerissa and Katherine lived lonely lives. The story came to light after Nerissa’s death aged 66, when journalists discovered her grave marked only by a plastic name tag and a serial number. Katherine died in 2014, at the age of 87.