Queen Elizabeth’s final moments revealed in new book

King Charles found out about Queen Elizabeth II's death when he was pulled over to take a call and was addressed as ‘Your Majesty’, new book reveals. Photo / Getty Images

The King succeeded to the throne at the wheel of his car after a trip to forage for mushrooms, a new book has revealed.

He pulled over to take a phone call in which he was addressed as “Your Majesty” for the first time on a Balmoral estate road.

Minutes beforehand, he had been picking mushrooms as he attempted to “clear his head” in the fresh air following a final visit to his mother’s bedside.

An account of Elizabeth II’s final moments, and her son’s accession, has been published for the first time in a biography of the King.

It records how the late Queen “slipped away” peacefully in her sleep and “wouldn’t have been aware of anything”, according to a memo from her most senior member of staff.

It also recounts how she left a sealed letter for her heir in her final red box of paperwork, found by a footman at her deathbed.

The royal family follow behind the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II as it is carried out of Westminster Abbey after her State Funeral in September 2022 in London, England. Photo / Getty Images

The book, by Robert Hardman, details a memo written by Sir Edward Young, the late Queen’s private secretary and one of a close circle of aides who were present at Balmoral when she died on September 8, 2022.

In a contemporaneous note, now held in the Royal Archives, Sir Edward wrote: “Very peaceful. In her sleep. Slipped away. Old age. She wouldn’t have been aware of anything. No pain.”

The definitive account of the late Queen’s final moments, published as an extract in the Daily Mail, will reassure her many admirers that she prepared for the end with her customary dignity and calm.

The book describes the late Queen’s final day in detail for the first time, drawing on senior palace sources as well as a list of contributors including the Princess Royal.

It confirms that the King spent about an hour with his mother on her final day, having made an emergency journey to Balmoral by helicopter, but was not with her at the moment of her death.

King Charles found out his mother had died while ‘driving back to Balmoral from picking mushrooms’. Photo / Getty Images

He had read his “London Bridge” notes, the logistical plans for Elizabeth II’s death, on the journey.

After spending time with his mother, he had gone out for a walk to gather mushrooms – as is his habit to clear his head – before returning to Balmoral by car.

By the time he was en route, Elizabeth II had died. The Balmoral switchboard operator worked down a list of mobile phone numbers to tell the new King first, eventually connecting to an aide in Charles’s car who passed the telephone to Sir Clive Alderton, his private secretary.

“He had to ask his boss to pull over and stop,” Hardman writes. “Sir Edward Young was now on the other end of the phone. The new monarch knew exactly what was coming next.

“He had just turned off the B976 onto the back drive of the estate when, at the age of 73, he was addressed as ‘Your Majesty’ for the first time.

“No further explanation was needed. ‘We’re nearly there,’ the King replied softly.”

Hardman records that he then calmly put the car into gear and continued the drive to the house.

When the new King called his elder son, the Prince of Wales, to deliver the news, he found himself telling the palace switchboard “it’s me” without using his name or title, so as not to reveal that he had become King to members of staff before his heir.

The book also gives an account of the Duke of Sussex’s involvement in the day, which saw him making his own way to Balmoral and discovering the late Queen had died by a breaking news alert upon his plane landing.

Giving an insight into the fractures in the Royal family at the time, Hardman claims that the Prince of Wales did not respond to text messages from his brother asking how he was travelling to Balmoral.

The book also gives an account of the Duke of Sussex’s involvement in the day. Photo / Getty Images

He quotes a source saying members of the family had been angry at the Sussexes’ “reckless betrayal” and worried about the contents of his then-yet-be-published memoir. “Some of the family were probably ready to give him a piece of their mind,” one source allegedly said.

After the autobiography included an account of Harry’s discussions with his father about travelling to Balmoral and an argument over whether Meghan should go, one family friend is quoted as saying: “Why … did Harry even feel the need to put this in his book? The Prince of Wales had enough to think about without worrying where the Sussexes’ next grievance was coming from.”

The version published in Spare says: “He [the King] said I was welcome at Balmoral, but he didn’t want … her. He started to lay out his reason, which was nonsensical, and disrespectful, and I wasn’t having it. Don’t ever speak about my wife that way.

“He stammered, apologetic, saying he simply didn’t want a lot of people around. No other wives were coming, Kate wasn’t coming, he said, therefore Meg shouldn’t.

“Then that’s all you needed to say.”

The then Duchess of Cambridge had in fact decided to stay at home to be with her three children on such a seismic day for their family.

“It was by luck rather than judgment [that she wasn’t there], but it made it a lot easier to tell Harry he was coming alone,” one royal aide told Hardman.

The Princess Royal was at Balmoral with the late Queen, along with Angela Kelly, her loyal dresser and confidante, and the Rev Kenneth MacKenzie, who read to her from the Bible as she reached the end. She has been interviewed for the book and its tie-in documentary, Charles III: The Coronation Year, which was broadcast by the BBC on Boxing Day.

‘Tried to persuade her’

She has told how the late Queen was persuaded to spend her final days at Balmoral, as her family convinced her to put her own comfort before her concern for others after a lifetime of duty.

The Princess was the only working member of the royal family to be at Balmoral when it became clear the Queen was entering her final hours.

“I think there was a moment when she felt it would be more difficult if she died at Balmoral,” the Princess said. “I think we did try to persuade her that that shouldn’t be part of the decision-making process. So I hope she felt that was right in the end, because we did.”

Describing the scene at Balmoral shortly after the Queen’s death, Hardman disclosed the Princess Royal had appeared so “visibly distressed” that one senior member of staff had offered her a hug.

“That is the last time that’s going to happen,” the Princess said.

The late Queen had extended her annual summer stay at the Aberdeenshire estate after coming to terms with her declining health.

Her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren had visited Balmoral over the summer to spend time with her.

At the time, the palace described the late Queen as having “episodic mobility problems”, with a series of cancelled engagements in early 2022 culminating in Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, the outgoing and incoming prime ministers, being asked to travel to Scotland to spare her the journey down to Buckingham Palace.

‘Even working on deathbed’

The biography also discloses how the late Queen worked her way through her final red box diligently, even as she was confined to her bedroom, leaving a sealed letter for her son and a second for Sir Edward. The contents of the letters have not been revealed.

The red boxes are one of the monarch’s most famous duties, completed on every day except Christmas Day and Easter Sunday. The late Queen’s final one contained her choice of candidates for the Order of Merit.

“Even on her deathbed, there had been work to do. And she had done it,” writes Hardman.

The late Queen died peacefully at Balmoral aged 96 after reigning for 70 years.

The book, Charles III, is out in hardback on Jan 18, published by Macmillan. It is subtitled: New King. New Court. The Inside Story.