Queen Elizabeth was determined to make important memories for her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren during her final year, even though she was suffering from “multiple medical conditions”.
Although the public knew the late Queen had been taking a step back from royal duties as she became less mobile, in reality the monarch had accepted her death was close by and wanted to make the most of every second, according to a royal biographer.
An upcoming biography titled Charles III: New King, New Court: The Inside Story claims that the Queen knew she would not make it to 2023 and instead “slipped away” feeling “no pain” on September 8 2022, aged 96.
A friend of hers said in the book: “She had come to realise that the medical prognosis meant she was not going to emulate her mother and reach 100, so she had been determined to make the most of that (final) year.
“She made sure she had all the family up over the summer [at Balmoral] so that the young ones in particular would always be left with happy memories of her.”
A close friend of the royals has disclosed that the exact cause of the Queen’s death will never be known as she was experiencing several different conditions.
A memo written by Her Late Majesty’s private secretary Sir Edward Young laid bare the scenario of her death, as it stated: “Very peaceful. In her sleep. Slipped away. Old age. She wouldn’t have been aware of anything. No pain.”
According to the new biography alleges that when the footman opened a red box of paperwork on the Queen’s deathbed, they discovered two letters.
It is claimed in the book that one of these letters was addressed to King Charles and the other was for Sir Edward, with author Robert Hardman writing: “Even on her deathbed, there had been work to do. And she had done it.”
The Queen was able to spend her final weeks at Balmoral, her home in the Scottish Highlands, even though she initially had feared it would be inconvenient for her to die there.
Princess Anne told the BBC in their documentary Charles III: The Coronation Year: “I think there was a moment when she felt that it would be more difficult if she died at Balmoral.
“And I think we did try and persuade her that that shouldn’t be part of the decision-making process. So I hope she felt that that was right in the end, because I think we did.”
At the Queen’s state funeral on September 19, her daughter the Princess Royal also recalled feeling a “sense of relief” at the “responsibility” of her rule being “moved on”.
Anne added that it was “pure serendipity” that she happened to be at Balmoral at the time her mother died, as she popped by to spend a few days there on her way home from a break on the west coast of Scotland.
