Queen's final moments: Her Majesty 'wouldn't have been aware of anything' as she 'slipped away'
12 January 2024, 21:15 | Updated: 14 January 2024, 08:26
Queen Elizabeth's final moments have been revealed as she peacefully "slipped away" in her sleep.
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The late Queen's death at Balmoral on September 8, 2022, was described as "very peaceful" in a memo written by her private secretary.
The document, which is now in the Royal Archives, has been uncovered as part of a new biography of the King - Charles III: New King, New Court. The Inside Story.
Read More: 'Secret summits' took place to make Charles regent during Queen Elizabeth's final years
The note also reveals that the late monarch "wouldn't have been aware of anything", according to the Mail.
Private secretary Sir Edward Young wrote: "Very peaceful. In her sleep. Slipped away. Old age. She wouldn't have been aware of anything. No pain."
The book - by royal writer Robert Hardman - also reveals how, shortly after Sir Edward wrote his note, a footman brought a locked red box of paperwork found at the late Queen's deathbed which contained two sealed letters - one to her son and heir and the other to Sir Edward himself.
The box also contained her choice of candidates for the Order of Merit for "exceptionally meritorious service" across the Commonwealth.
The Queen's death was so sudden that Charles had to rush to Balmoral by helicopter and read his "London Bridge" (the plans for events following the Queen's death) notes on the way, the book reveals.
Both Charles and Camilla spent an hour with the late Queen privately before she died.
The King called both William and Harry and told them to travel up to Scotland as soon as possible to say their goodbyes, the biography adds.
Meanwhile, Princess Anne and the late Queen's senior dresser, Angela Kelly, alternated at her bedside, along with Rev Kenneth MacKenzie, a minister at nearby Crathie Kirk.
Charles, who had gone out to gather mushrooms and clear his head after seeing his mother, received the news that she had died as he was driving back to Balmoral, the book says.
He pulled over and was addressed for the first time as "Your Majesty".
When Charles called William via the palace switchboard to break the news, he told the operator "it's me" as he realised he could not reveal that he was king yet.
He tried to contact Harry to tell him personally but he was already in the air and could not get through, the book reveals.
