Me at 3am
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It’s especially relevant to reframing the situation. “I’m so sorry” is showing sympathy and compassion, yes, but it still frames the person as the passive victim. “Congratulations” is important because it reframes the situation to be about the person’s agency and celebrates their choice to get out. We should have parties when a person gets out, not pity.
Their names were Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon. They were kept in the Royal Earlswood Hospital, formerly known as "The Asylum for Idiots". Burke's Peerage listed them both as deceased in the 1940s but Nerissa died in 1996 and Katherine died in 2014.
The hospital had no record of any visit from the family during the time the sisters were there, and they never received a birthday or Christmas card. They also received no money beyond the £125 paid to the hospital per year.
Nerissa Bowes-Lyon was buried in a pauper's grave with a plastic marker and a serial number:
The family didn't even buy her a headstone until a Channel 4 documentary highlighted the sisters' story and showed the grave. None of her family had attended her funeral.
The Queen was reported to be "hugely distressed" by the airing of the documentary.
“Can I just say something in MY defense? We had to keep our disabled family members a secret, because then people might start to question whether my family has magic blood that makes us uniquely able to govern.”
