Queen Elizabeth II had two cousins, Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon, who were kept out of the public eye due to their severe disabilities. Nerissa (1919–1986) and Katherine (1926–2014) were the daughters of John Herbert Bowes-Lyon (a brother of the Queen Mother) and his wife Fenella. Both sisters were born with severe intellectual disabilities, and in 1941, they were placed in the Royal Earlswood Hospital for mentally disabled people. Their existence was largely unknown to the public until it w