![]() ![]() Nerissa died in 1986, and Katherine died in 2014.Ī quick check of Burke’s substantiates the official declaration that the sisters are deceased, but Sherlock Margaret believes there’s something fishy going on. In truth, as verified by the photos and birth and death dates included in the epilogue for “The Hereditary Principle,” both sisters were very much alive during the events of this episode. They were committed to the Earlswood Asylum in 1941 – and both were listed in Burke’s Peerage as having died by 1961. What we do know is Katherine and Nerissa Bowes-Lyon were the daughters of the Queen Mother’s older brother, John “Jock” Bowes-Lyon. There isn’t a huge amount of information available on this topic, which, of course, makes it ideal for a Crown episode. When the therapist (Gemma Jones) discusses the Windsor family’s mental health history, she lets it slip that the princess has two institutionalized first cousins on her mother’s side. Strangely enough, that isn’t the most memorable part of the appointment. ![]() As the camera moves into a close-up of Bonham Carter’s profile, her quivering lip belies Margaret’s stoicism, with the princess admitting to her depression. Margaret begrudgingly attends a therapy session, but it doesn’t take much prying for her to open up, or for Bonham Carter to rival Colman’s tear-duct work. It’s a short-lived escape, though, because she almost immediately returns to London at the behest of her nephew Charles, a recent convert to psychotherapy: It’s time for Margaret to get some professional help. Now devoid of any purpose, Margaret boards a private jet to Mustique, where she mopes around her neglected beach house, dreaming of the good ol’ days with Roddy Llewellyn. (If you ever wondered what a Queen Elizabeth-crapping-her-pants expression looked like, Olivia Colman grants your wish beautifully in this scene.) Talk about terrible timing: shortly afterward, the Queen informs Margaret that she must relinquish her role as Counsellor of State - one of six senior royals who can deputize for the monarch when needed- to the now-of-age Prince Edward. So, following a health scare, a pale and weakened Margaret makes a “ familiar request” of her sister: She wants to take on more royal duties. Also, Prince Charles mentions that Diana is pregnant, and Harry was born in September 1984. ![]() But the public discovery of Elizabeth and Margaret’s developmentally disabled cousins, Katherine and Nerissa Bowes-Lyon, didn’t happen until 1987. I don’t think The Crown was terribly concerned with timeline accuracy for this episode, because two of the major events that sent Margaret spiraling in “The Hereditary Principle” – the partial removal of her lung and Prince Edward replacing her as Counsellor of State – occurred in 1985. Second-born royals like Margaret and Prince Andrew have a pretty ugly track record, so bravo to Prince Harry for taking pre-emptive measures not just for his own well-being, but that of his wife and son. After watching the stories of Princesses Diana and Margaret this season, I am even more in awe of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s decision to leave their senior royal roles. Time and time again, whenever she’s offered the opportunity to take control of her life (marrying Group Captain Peter Townsend, or, in “The Hereditary Principle,” converting to Catholicism), she can never go through with it, because it means relinquishing her title – thus allowing the toxicity cycle to continue. What I do know about Margaret, though, is that she always returns to the source of her misery. Now, I know I have no right to make any sort of diagnosis since my therapy credentials extend to multiple viewings of all four seasons of The Crown. But the real tragedy of Margaret’s story is how she seems to suffer from a kind of Stockholm Syndrome. We learn about yet another royal family secret in this episode, as well as delve deeper into Margaret’s depression – something that’s managed to get even worse since she ended her destructive marriage to Antony Armstrong-Jones in 1978. She is tasked with not just capturing the princess’ aimless existence, but as she’s been doing all season long, positioning Margaret as the only royal confident enough to call bullshit on her family’s atrocious behavior. “The Hereditary Principle” is the first and only Margaret-centric episode of season four, and Helena Bonham Carter makes up for her reduced screen time brilliantly. It also means, in case you haven’t noticed this season, that Princess Margaret has been relegated even further to the periphery – of both her family and the Netflix series. As The Crown inches closer toward the 21st century, it’s inevitable that the focus will shift onto Queen Elizabeth’s children.
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