With the Sussexes’ choice of name coming just months after Queen Elizabeth lost her husband Prince Philip in 2021, Ms Seward said the timing of their decision to ask Her Majesty to use the name sparked difficulty for the monarch.
Writing for the Daily Mail, Ms Seward said: “But we now know this masked a tragic unravelling of her family at the moment when she most needed them together.
“Elizabeth no longer had the reassuring presence of Prince Philip, to support her. Even her childhood nickname had been hijacked.
“But distressing though it is to know the truth about her turmoil, her faith and humour kept her going.”
According to Rebecca English, royal editor for the publication, the late Queen was hurt by the fact her name had been taken from her.
A courtier told her that Queen Elizabeth said: “I don’t own the palaces, I don’t own the paintings, the only thing I own is my name. And now they’ve taken that.”
During that period the monarch had a number of huge challenges facing her.
Among them included the loss of her husband, Harry and Meghan’s move to the US and the continued backlash facing her son Prince Andrew and his relationship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
However, Ms Seward noted that other claims from within Mr Hardman’s new book demonstrated the tenacity of the late Queen – even on her death bed.
According to the publication, while in her final days, she continued to sign documents off and carry out the duties she was able to.
Ms Seward added: “How typical of the late Queen’s lifelong dedication to duty that she continued working until the very end.
“As Mr Hardman movingly describes in his new book Charles III, Elizabeth II had been confined to bed at Balmoral – yet still planned to attend a meeting of the Privy Council by video link and sign documents in her government red boxes.
“Even in her final days, the Queen had never let the public know how badly her health was failing or the physical difficulty she was in.”
