How Queen Elizabeth Planned the Final Days of Her Life

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‘Serious and detailed thought’ behind queen’s death

Queen Elizabeth discussed where she would die with her family, “endearingly reluctant to cause unnecessary inconvenience to others,” the author Robert Hardman writes in an extract from his latest book, Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story in the Mail on Sunday.

“There was a moment when she felt that it would be more difficult if she died at Balmoral,” Princess Anne reveals—every monarch since the creation of Great Britain had died in England, Hardman notes. Anne continues, “And I think we did try and persuade her that shouldn’t be part of the decision-making process. So I hope she felt that that was right in the end.”

A close friend of the family told Hardman the late queen had been suffering from “multiple conditions” in her final year—she died on Sept. 8, 2022.

“She had come to realize 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,” says one friend. “She made sure she had all the family up over the summer, so that the young ones in particular would always be left with happy memories of her.”

In the days before her death, the queen remained busy, the Sunday Times details in its rundown of Hardman’s book. On the evening of September 6, the queen was “energized,” having met the departing prime minister, Boris Johnson, and his replacement, Liz Truss.

“She was quite buzzy over pre-dinner drinks,” said one person in the party, which included Princess Anne and her oldest grandchild, Peter Phillips. “But then she said she was going upstairs to have dinner alone.” She spent the following day in bed, and canceled a video meeting with the privy council, its members told on the grounds of “medical advice.” On the evening of September 7, Charles was advised by Anne and his private secretary to make his way to the queen’s bedside ASAP.

Previously, “serious and detailed thought” had been given to then-Prince Charles taking over from an ailing queen in a so-called regency. “With the Queen Mother (Queen Elizabeth’s mother) going on past her 100th birthday, of course we had to think that the Queen would reach the same age. A regency seemed almost inevitable. That would have been very difficult,” a senior former aide told Hardman. “You would still have needed a near-full queen’s household and a near-full prince’s household and it would have been very hard for the regent. I always hoped it wouldn’t happen while I was there but I didn’t see how we could get out of it, to be honest.”

Options drawn up by aides ranged from “regency-light” (with minimal princely involvement) and “reversible regency,” in the event of short-term incapacitation.

Charles was “extremely reluctant” to consider such matters. “You could turn up with all the papers and he would say, ‘Have you been through it all? Are you happy with this?’ and that would be that,” one aide said. “He didn't want to dwell on the details… I think he felt that if you reach out for something, you are tempting fate.”

As it turned out, dying in Scotland in September was hailed by all concerned. “Scotland was the most ambitious location for ceremonial, but it does look brilliant in September,” one senior member of the team said. “It also meant that we could plan for a coronation in May, which is ideal. Had the Queen died in July, it would have meant a winter coronation, which would have been miserable. God bless her!”

One courtier called Queen Elizabeth’s death a “masterclass.”

Of being part of the cortege driving from Balmoral through the Highlands south to Edinburgh, Princess Anne said, “It was a privilege to be part of that, and particularly from the drive from Balmoral down to Edinburgh, where you literally saw people's reactions. As you progressed, you were aware of the trouble people had gone to—lining up the tractors and cleaning them off; literally plaiting the ponies and making sure that they were smartly turned out.”

Why Kate Middleton really stayed away from Balmoral

As Queen Elizabeth died, Prince Harry’s anger at his father’s request that Meghan Markle not come to Balmoral was reportedly “pacified” by the news Kate Middleton would not be there at Prince William’s side.

But Hardman reveals in his book that Charles had not asked Kate to stay away, the Mail reports. Kate herself had decided to remain at home because her three kids were due to start at their new school on September 8, and she thought at least one of their parents should be with them.

“It was by luck rather than judgement, but it made it a lot easier to tell Harry that he was coming alone,” a royal aide told Hardman.

Andrew cast out? Not really

The Daily Beast has been reporting in recent days that King Charles is not going to withdraw his support for Prince Andrew in the wake of the release of court documents reprising his links to Jeffrey Epstein and alleged sex crimes.

There can be no clearer sign of this than Andrew, 63, being permitted to host a lavish shooting party for his chums on the king’s Windsor estate this weekend, as reported by the Daily Mail, which said he was “joined by around a dozen guests… pictured at the wheel of a dark green Range Rover.”

As a friend of the king told The Daily Beast this week: “I think [the king] has been very clear that family unity comes first. He is not going to change course on the basis of a series of unproven allegations that have all been made before, and will almost certainly all be made again.”

The shooting party makes it quite clear that, as another friend of the king told The Daily Beast: “As far as the king is concerned, nothing has changed.”

Incidentally, forget about Andrew being dramatically forced out of Royal Lodge, as some outlets were excitably predicting last week: Andrew’s friends have been quite clear in conversations with The Daily Beast that he won’t be giving up his lease without being paid for it.

A friend of Andrew’s told the London Times this week that Charles won’t evict Andrew because “blood is thicker than water.”

And, you know, money.

Denmark rings the big change

Today, Sunday, thousands of patriotic Danes are congregating in downtown Copenhagen to witness a momentous event in the history of one of the world’s longest-standing monarchies: at approximately 2 p.m. local time (8 a.m. EST), Queen Margrethe II was due to officially abdicate during a meeting with the Danish Cabinet, concluding her reign of over fifty years.

Roughly an hour after this, her son, the 55-year-old Crown Prince, was due to be officially declared King Frederik X from the balcony of Christiansborg Palace, located in the Danish capital's core, CNN reports.

At the age of 83, Margrethe is set to be the first Danish ruler to voluntarily step down from the throne since 1146 when King Erik III chose to resign and join a monastery. She said that her decision, announced on New Year’s Eve, was due to health reasons, but there has been intense speculation that her actions are at least partially influenced by rumors of marital discord between Frederik and his wife, Australian-born Mary.

Mike Tindall: great hat taste

Mike Tindall and wife Zara (Princess Anne’s daughter) have been photographed having a pretty sunny and great start to 2024 in Australia. Earlier this week it was in their swimming togs, but Mike was clearly not satisfied in what he was delivering to photographers, and was most recently snapped wearing his wife’s fascinator.

The Telegraph has the pictures, in which Mike’s bald head sets off the dramatically designed hat very fetchingly—its orange and blue floral a perfect topper to his cream suit, brown suede shoes, and navy striped tie.

The couple, the paper reports, are brand ambassadors for the racehorse auction house Magic Millions, which reportedly nets them £125,000 ($159,000) every year. Mike modeled his wife’s hat at the Magic Millions racecourse on Australia’s Gold Coast.

Other photographs show him enjoying what looks like a deliciously cool Aperol Spritz, with straw. New Year’s resolution: be more Mike and Zara.

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This week in royal history

A big week of birthdays. Princess Michael of Kent turns 79 tomorrow, Jan. 15. Happy birthday to Mia Grace Tindall, Mike and Zara’s daughter, who turns 10 on Jan. 17. Another happy birthday to Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, Prince Edward’s wife. She turns 59 on Jan. 20.

A busy week of past momentous events, too. Elizabeth I’s coronation took place on Jan. 15, 1559. And on Jan. 20, 1936, King George V died. (He was succeeded by son Edward VIII, who abdicated the throne when he announced his intention to marry divorcée Wallis Simpson.)

Unanswered questions

Does Prince Andrew face any more legal perils at being named in the recent Jeffrey Epstein document dump—or does it all merely rubber-stamp his permanent exclusion from public royal duties? And is he staying put at Royal Lodge?