Buckingham Palace declined to comment, calling it a family matter. Some relatives claimed the false death records were a clerical mistake and insisted the sisters had been visited, but hospital staff suggested they had received few — if any — visits since the early 1960s.

Controversy and Criticism

The case raised questions about the treatment of disabled family members within aristocracy and the suitability of institutions like Earlswood, which had a reputation for overcrowding and neglect.

Critics argued the sisters could have lived fuller lives elsewhere, while defenders insisted institutionalization was common practice at the time.

When Nerissa died in 1986 at age 66, no family attended her funeral, and she was buried under a simple plastic marker. Katherine, described as “little more than a child” even in her final years, reportedly remained without family visits, even after the scandal.

Later Legacy and Media Depictions

Katherine lived quietly until her death in 2014 at age 87, buried near her sister. Their story resurfaced in the 2011 documentary The Queen’s Hidden Cousins, which explored the wider social history of concealing disabled relatives, and again in 2020 in The Crown.

In one dramatized scene, Princess Margaret confronts the Queen Mother about the sisters, with the fictional response: “Their illness, their idiocy and imbecility, would make people question the integrity of the bloodline.” While invented for television, the exchange captured the period’s prevailing attitudes.

Though never officially diagnosed, the sisters had been medically labeled as “imbeciles” — a reflection of outdated and cruel terminology. Their story remains a haunting example of the isolation faced by disabled people in the 20th century, even within the most privileged families.