A royal insider has opened up about the end of the late Queen Elizabeth’s life, and the moment that she decided to calmly accept that she had reached her final days
Queen Elizabeth II steered the monarchy for decades, and no matter what crisis was going on behind closed doors for the Royal Family, she rarely displayed that anything was getting to her when she was in public.
The final months of her life were no exception, with the late Queen keeping her reported diagnosis – a type of bone marrow cancer called multiple myeloma – totally under wraps from the public, and many of those who worked within the royal households.
The former monarch’s commitment to putting her royal duties above all else was just one of the many reasons that the country mourned so extensively when she died in September 2022. And now, three years on from the end of her long reign, an insider has opened up about her calm and brave acceptance that she was reaching the end.
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Former royal butler Paul Burrell claims that when the Queen first received her devastating diagnosis in the summer of 2021, it was not long after the death of her beloved husband of 73 years, Prince Philip.
He says that when her doctors informed her of the news, they first believed she would only live until around Christmas that year – something that is said to have left the Queen very shocked.
But in the end, she far exceeded their expectations, living a further nine months, because of her determination to do something for the public, one last time.
“The Queen’s response was, ‘Well, that’s a shame, because next year is my Platinum Jubilee year and I’d quite like to have seen that. Can you keep me alive for that?,'” Burrell, who has written a new book, says.
“She endured blood transfusions and scrupulously followed doctors’ orders, giving up her much-loved gin and tonics, gin and Dubonnets and martinis, and instead having apple juice (and tomato juice on a Sunday as a treat) to help extend her life… They kept her alive to witness this landmark (Platinum Jubilee) in her reign, but she knew through it all that she was dying.”
After reaching the landmark jubilee and celebrating with the public one final time, the Queen, who Burrell claims had spent months enduring these lifestyle changes and strict medical orders, reportedly quietly decided to give up this herculean effort, declining to continue any further with the intense treatments.
“The Queen had been very poorly during her last days and was mainly bedridden. She was 96 and had refused any more treatment,” Burrell claimed.
She spent the final weeks of her life at Balmoral, which was well known to be her favourite of the royal residences, and had been the site of many happy family memories.
The Scottish castle is somewhere that, away from the public spotlight that is usually trained upon the royals, the late Queen was able to indulge in the countryside pursuits she loved, like fishing, hunting, and going for BBQs and picnics with her family.
However, even in her final days, few knew how unwell the late monarch was. It is thought that many of the staff working at Balmoral had no idea what was happening and just went about their days as usual, while the Queen quietly slipped away.
Dad-of-two Mr Burrell, who entered Royal Service at age 18 as a Buckingham Palace footman, describes Queen Elizabeth II’s final days in full in his book The Royal Insider, which is out on Thursday.