However some Royal affairs are swiftly swept under the carpet, out of sight and out of mind. Even today we journalists have been sworn to secretary about one or two occurrences which will probably never see the light of day on the cover of any British Tabloid newspapers.
Which brings us to a Channel 4 documentary, scheduled to be broadcast tomorrow evening (17 November) which has caused outraged from the head of the Royal Family.
According to a Sunday paper The Queen is said to be very upset about a film documenting the lives of two of the Queen Mother’s cousins.
Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon were the daughters of John and Fenella Herbet-Lyon. Just in case your regal history isn’t up to scratch John’s sister was the Queen Mother, making them the first cousins of Queen Elizabeth II.
In 1963 the historical guide to the royals, Burke’s Peerage reported both girls deceased. However Nerissa passed away in 1986 and Katherine? Well, she is still alive!
When Nerissa died there was no ‘grand funeral’ nor was her death laid to rest with an elaborate coffin. Her body is buried at Redhill Cemetery below a gravestone which only bears a serial number and a few plastic tags.
So, why haven’t we heard from Katherine and why hasn’t she expressed her anger towards the way the Royal Family allegedly treated her sister’s death? The reason for Katherine’s silence is because she is mentally disabled, just as Nerissa was.
Because of their disability the sisters were taken to Earlswood Hospital for the mentally disabled in 1941. To give the story a sickening twist there’s no record of any members of the Royal Family paying the two girls a visit, despite the fact of their aunt, The Queen Mother, being a patron of the learning disability charity, MENCAP.
This isn’t the first time the Royal Family have allegedly hid a family member from the public eye because of their disability. Back in 1905 Mary Teck and King George V gave birth to Prince John who suffered from epilepsy; the little boy was carted off to the Sandringham Estate out of the public eye. You can read more about Prince John on an article we published in earlier this year.
We imagine the Television sets won’t be tuned into the documentary tomorrow night, but for the rest of us we can watch The Queen’s Hidden Cousins at 9.00pm on Channel 4.
