Their names are Katherine and Nerissa Bowes-Lyon. They are first cousins of Queen Elizabeth II. They disappeared (respectively) in 2014 at the age of 88 and in 1986 at 67, and to the world, it was as if they never existed. Or rather, according to the Burke’s Peerage & Baronetage, the definitive guide to the British aristocracy, their deaths occurred prematurely, in 1940 (Katherine) and 1961 (Nerissa). Why, then, do the dates and events surrounding these two women not align? Why are there no traces of Katherine and Nerissa? The seventh episode of the television series The Crown 4 (created by British screenwriter Peter Morgan and available on Netflix since November 15, 2020) reveals this, bringing to light a virtually unknown, or at least hastily forgotten, story linked to the British Crown.
When, in 1923, the future Queen Mother Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon married King George VI, the idea, supported by those who approved of the union, was that her bloodline could finally bring stability to the royal lineage. After all, the Windsors – with Edward VIII abdicating the throne to follow the woman he loved and the stuttering George VI himself – were considered “eccentric” by the public opinion of the time. Thus, for the good of the royal succession, Katherine and Nerissa, daughters of John Herbert Bowes-Lyon, one of the future Queen Mother’s older brothers, were literally locked away and hidden in a psychiatric hospital in Surrey, because they were young girls on the autism spectrum.
In 1941, the doors of the Royal Earlswood Institution for Mental Defectives in Redhill (closed in 1997) opened for the two nieces (and three other relatives) of the Queen Mother. Katherine was 22 when she entered, and Nerissa was just 15. It seems no one ever went to visit them. It is also unclear whether only the Queen Mother – who was, incidentally, a patron of psychiatric hospitals – was aware of the situation, or if Elizabeth II was also aware. In the TV series, Elizabeth claims to be in the dark about everything, along with her sister (Princess Margaret) and the rest of the family (according to the *Daily Mail*, Queen Elizabeth discovered the truth in 1983).
In any case, that’s not the important point. What matters, rather, is shedding light on the historical perception of people with mental disabilities. The story of Katherine and Nerissa, tellingly, highlights the cultural backwardness of the era and a society marked by eugenic theories. The Bowes-Lyon sisters paid the price for this, in addition to, of course, being born into the orbit of the most important family in the United Kingdom.
For the good of the throne, at 22 and 15 years old, the Bowes-Lyon sisters were locked away in a psychiatric hospital because they were on the autism spectrum. No one ever went to visit them.
And their story, as depicted on screen and as told by various official documents, is disturbing and, at the same time, thought-provoking. An article in The Guardian, commenting on the episode of The Crown 4, underscores this. “The story of Katherine and Nerissa is from another era, but today, in the United Kingdom, there are still 1.5 million people with disabilities who are rarely seen or heard.” It’s as if to ask: “What has really changed with regard to disability issues?”; “What opportunities, what services are still denied to these people?”; “How has their life changed, during the pandemic, compared to those who lead a so-called ‘normal’ existence?”.
Great strides have been made worldwide (talking about it, even through a film, is already part of this framework of change), but in terms of acceptance (even within families) or combating discrimination and inequality, there is still a long way to go.
Katherine and Nerissa, children with shattered dreams, are not simply a story to be forgotten. They are a warning. For everyone.
