The world mourned Queen Elizabeth’s death. Though not all are pro-monarchy, most liked the late Queen. After 70 years, she is back with Prince Philip.
After the Queen died at Balmoral, her cause of death was rumored. One source stated the late Queen had bone cancer, although Buckingham Palace has not acknowledged it. A close friend of Queen Elizabeth told The Daily Beast about her final days.
With over 70 years of rule, Queen Elizabeth died at 96 on September 8, 2022. Queen Elizabeth’s casket processed to Wellington Arch in London after the State Funeral at Westminster Abbey.
Windsor received the coffin from Wellington Arch. The hearse then proceeded to St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, via the Long Walk. Another funeral was held in St. George’s Chapel.
The St George’s Chapel Choir sang at the funeral. Before the “final Hymn,” Queen Elizabeth’s imperial state crown, Orb, and Sceptre were removed from her coffin and put on the altar.
King Charles then laid his mother’s Grenadier Guards Company Camp Colour on her casket before the Lord Chamberlain broke his Wand of Office and placed it down.
The guests sang God Save the King as Her Majesty’s coffin entered the Royal Vault. Charles appeared distressed, fighting tears. Later Monday evening, only close family members attended a quiet, camera-free funeral service.
Queen Elizabeth
Her parents, sister Princess Margaret, and husband Prince Phillip are buried in Windsor Castle’s King George VI Memorial Chapel. The royal vault below St. George’s Chapel held Philip’s coffin. After the funeral, he was moved to the King George VI Memorial Chapel to be with Elizabeth, where guests may pay their respects again weeks later.
AP stated that Queen Elizabeth’s burial and lying-in-state cost Britain $200 million. The UK’s first state funeral since Winston Churchill’s 1965 was held. Queen Elizabeth lay in state at Westminster Hall before her funeral, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors. Parliament received a written statement of costs.
“The government’s priorities were that these events ran smoothly and with the appropriate level of dignity, while at all times ensuring the public’s safety and security,” treasury chief secretary John Glen said.
After the funeral, Queen Elizabeth’s cause of death was kept hidden for weeks. Despite many believing Her Majesty’s death certificate should be public, a Scottish government department was accused by the Daily Mail of being secretive and delaying reasonable requests to access it.
Liz died of “old age”
“Despite MailOnline and other media outlets trying to get the information from the National Records of Scotland (NRS), the public body has blocked its staff from providing any details about the Queen’s death on September 8,” the Daily Mail stated.
In late September 2022, the death reason was revealed. Queen Elizabeth died of “old age,” with no further details. Her death was documented in Aberdeenshire on September 16, according to National Records of Scotland Chief Executive Paul Lowe.
Princess Anne signed the document stating that Her Majesty died at 3.10 P.M. on September 8 at Balmoral Castle. Three hours after her death, Buckingham Palace announced Queen Elizabeth’s death. Charles and Camilla were with the Queen when she died. Before she died, Prince William, Kate Middleton, and Prince Harry did not arrive at Balmoral to say goodbye.
Harry described the chaotic hours after his grandmother’s death on 60 Minutes. He said he asked his brother William about Balmoral travel but was rejected.
“I asked my brother, ‘What are your plans? “How are you and Kate getting up there?” A couple of hours later, all the Windsor and Ascot family members were on an aircraft together,” Harry told Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes.
Princes Harry and William missed the deadline.
Most of the journey to the Scottish estate, where he would spend many Christmases and holidays, he thought about his last conversation with his grandma. Harry read on the BBC website that the Queen had died as he landed. Princess Anne greeted him at Balmoral.
“I walked into the hall and [Princess Anne] was there to greet me,” Harry told 60 Minutes. I was requested to see her. For five seconds, I wondered, ‘Is this a good idea?’ I was like, “You know what?” You can. Remember to say farewell. So went upstairs, took my jacket off, and strolled in to spend time with her alone.”
Harry said, “She was in her bedroom. I was thrilled for her. Her life was over. Her husband Prince Philip was waiting for her after she finished life. Both are buried together.”
Harry writes more about saying goodbye to the Queen in his memoir.
Harry wrote in his book, “I stayed in one place without moving, gazing at her for a long time, gathered strength and continued going forward,” whispering a wonderful thing to her.
He murmured to the Queen, wishing her happiness and that she was with her grandfather. He praised her for her role in the Jubilee and greeting the new Prime Minister.
A royal insider said Queen Elizabeth had bone cancer.
Queen Elizabeth’s declared cause of death was old age, however one expert said she had bone cancer. In a Daily Mail serialization, royal author Gyles Brandreth noted that her myeloma caused “tiredness and weight loss and those ‘mobility issues’ we were often told about during the last year or so of her life.”
He added: “Multiple myeloma often affects the elderly, and its most common symptom is bone pain, especially in the pelvis and lower back. Although there is no cure, treatment, including immune system-regulating pharmaceuticals and bone-strengthening drugs, can lessen symptoms and extend survival by months or two to three years.
As Bradreth stated, bone cancer can cause significant chronic pain and impair mobility, making the Queen have “episodic mobility problems.”
“No one could see she was wheelchair-bound”
Due to mobility concerns and suffering, the Queen withdrew from more public appearances in her final year, Express sources said.
The Daily Beast said that the Queen used a wheelchair privately but was never documented doing so.
Buckingham Palace’s Platinum Jubilee planning was exceptional, according to royal scholar and author Robert Joobson.
“On her insistence, a military-style exercise was put in place so no one could see she was wheelchair-bound,” Jobson wrote. “In considerable discomfort, Her Majesty was taken by wheelchair to the Windsor helicopter pad.”
She was carried up to the balcony doors at the Palace and brought to her feet so she could stand with a walking stick beside Charles, Camilla, William, and his family. The Queen was thrilled with a fireworks spectacular. Her last salute to her people.”
The Queen remembered a “haunting image” of her sister, Princess Margaret, in a wheelchair taken months before her death, so palace aides were told not to let anyone see her in a wheelchair.
Queen Elizabeth was “easily confused” and had trouble seeing in her dying days.
One of Queen Elizabeth’s friends has spoken up about her final years, saying she was in “a lot of pain.” The source also reported that the Queen’s sight and hearing had declined in the weeks before her death.
Even though Queen Elizabeth nominated Liz Truss as Prime Minister days before her death, a friend said she had trouble concentrating and “was easily confused.”
“For the last years of her life, certainly from when her husband died [in April 2021], the Queen was in a lot of pain,” a source told The Daily Beast.
“In the final months, of course, it got very much worse; by the time of the Platinum Jubilee, she couldn’t see very much, she couldn’t hear very much, and she was easily confused,” the acquaintance said.
“She rarely left her Windsor Castle apartments. Getting atop the Windsor Castle balcony for the Jubilee was a huge effort.”
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