Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon

Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon

Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon were first cousins of Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret. In 1987, it was revealed that, despite the 1963 edition of Burke’s Peerage, the sisters were alive and had been placed in Earlswood Hospital in 1941. In 1996, the surviving cousins were moved to Ketwin House care home in Surrey.

About Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon in brief

Summary Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-LyonNerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon were first cousins of Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret. In 1987, it was revealed that, despite the 1963 edition of Burke’s Peerage, the sisters were alive and had been placed in Earlswood Hospital in 1941. In the terminology of the era, both were classified as ‘imbeciles’ and neither had learnt to talk.

Nerissa died in 1986, with only hospital staff attending the funeral, while Katherine died in 2014. In 1996, the surviving cousins were moved to Ketwin House care home in Surrey. They were featured in the seventh episode of the fourth season of The Crown.