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Queen Elizabeth couldn’t make it to Prince Philip’s bedside before he died: royal biographer
By Nadine Bourne,
13 days ago
New information has come out about what the late Queen Elizabeth II did on April 9, 2021, the day when her husband, Prince Philip, died.
Queen Elizabeth allegedly couldn’t make it to the former Duke of Edinburgh’s bedside before he died at age 99, royal biographer Gyles Brandreth claims.
It was reported that the Queen was beside her husband when he died, but Brandreth wrote, “In fact, I don’t believe she was,” in his book “ Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait .”
Queen Elizabeth allegedly couldn’t make it to the former Duke of Edinburgh’s bedside before he died at age 99, royal biographer Gyles Brandreth claims. POOL/AFP via Getty Images Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip arrive in the parade ring on the third day of the Royal Ascot horse race meeting at Ascot, England on June 16, 2011. AP
“The Duke of Edinburgh had been in a hospital bed, set up in his dressing room at Windsor Castle. That morning, he went to the bathroom, helped by a nurse.”
Brandreth, a former Conservative MP and now chancellor of the University of Chester, claims that Prince Philip said he felt “a little faint” and needed help to get back into bed when he came back into the room.
“The nurse called the Duke’s valet and the Queen’s page, Paul Whybrew, for help — and he died before the Queen could be called. The Queen wasn’t yet up. And she wasn’t called until after a doctor had come and pronounced the Duke dead,” Brandreth wrote.
The royal biographer first met the Queen in 1968 when he was 20. Brandreth is known as a “close friend” of Queen Elizabeth who “knew Philip and Queen Elizabeth for decades,” according to the Daily Mirror.
“The nurse called the Duke’s valet and the Queen’s page, Paul Whybrew, for help — and he died before the Queen could be called. The Queen wasn’t yet up. And she wasn’t called until after a doctor had come and pronounced the Duke dead,” Brandreth wrote. Getty Images
When describing his relationship with the royal couple, Brandreth told The Times in 2021 that there is a limit to the closeness that can exist between those within and without the royal family.
“The Duke showed me great friendliness over 40 years,” Brandreth said. “But royalty offer you friendliness, not friendship, and you have to remember the difference.”
Due to pandemic-related precautions , the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral was attended by only 30 family members and loved ones when it was held at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle on April 17, 2021. The hourlong ceremony , largely planned by Philip himself, featured a customized Land Rover hearse and a performance of the Royal Navy Hymn.
Due to pandemic-related precautions, the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral was only attended by 30 of his family members and loved ones when it was held at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle on April 17, 2021. AP Queen Elizabeth II sat alone in St. George’s Chapel during Prince Philip’s funeral. AP
“In some ways, I’m glad we didn’t see that moment,” Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip’s daughter, Princess Anne, said in an interview with CBC in 2023 . “And when you see the photograph, it’s much more worse somehow.”
Comparing her experience in person to that of broadcast viewers, the 74-year-old princess noted, “You saw more of that than we did, [since we were] accompanying the coffin.”
The now-deceased royal couple first met at the wedding of Princess Marina of Greece and Prince George, Duke of Kent, in 1934. On July 9, 1947, Elizabeth and Philip announced their engagement and on November 20, 1947, they were married at Westminster Abby.
The pair shared four children — King Charles III, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward — eight grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip pose for a portrait at Buckingham Palace in London in 1952. via REUTERS On July 9, 1947, Elizabeth and Philip announced their engagement and on November 20, 1947, they were married at Westminster Abby. AFP/Getty Images
“He is someone who doesn’t take easily to compliments, but he had quite simply been my strength and stay all these years,” she said about her husband at the time. “And I … owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim.”
The royal couple shared four children: Princess Anne, now-King Charles III, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward. Getty Images Royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith told People of the royal match in 2022 that the Queen “fell in love and she never looked at anyone else.” Bettmann Archive
The couple celebrated 73 years of marriage in November 2020, and the 99-year-old Duke died five months later.
“Ironically, it is probably how he would have liked,” Anderson said. “No fuss, no bother. Right through his life, he never knew what all the fuss was about.”
Queen Elizabeth died on September 8, 2022 at age 96, about a year and a half after her husband. REUTERS It was revealed the queen battled cancer during her final years, despite the death certificate officially giving her cause of death as “old age.” Getty Images
Queen Elizabeth died on September 8, 2022 at age 96, about a year and a half after her husband.
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