The queen's personal secretary's memo is included in the upcoming book, 'New King. New Court. Charles III. The Inside Story.'
Stunning new details are emerging surrounding Queen Elizabeth's final hours before Her Majesty's tragic death in September 2022.
According to royal biographer Robert Hardman's new book, New King. New Court. Charles III. The Inside Story, there was little to no indication the queen would die on Sept. 8, 2022. A royal staff member told the biographer that "at that stage, people were still thinking in terms of days rather than hours -- let alone an hour or two."
In the book, excerpted in The Daily Mail, those at Balmoral were preparing for the inevitable, but no one imagined the queen's death would come on that very day. According to the book, Prince Charles (now King Charles) was out "gathering mushrooms -- and his thoughts -- while the Duchess [of Cornwall] had gone for a short walk." They had done so to let the queen rest, while Her Majesty's chaplain read to her from her Bible.
Soon after, the queen's doctor got an urgent call shortly after 3 p.m. to come upstairs to the queen's quarters. At the same time, Charles also got an urgent call, prompting him to jump into his Land Rover and race back to the castle.
"It was now a question of minutes. By the time Dr. Glass had reached the Queen's bedroom, she appeared to have stopped breathing -- though only a doctor could say for sure," Hardman writes in his book.
Meanwhile, the queen's private secretary, Sir Edward Young, waited outside the queen's bedroom.
"Finally, the doctor emerged to confirm the worst," Hardman writes. "He agreed a time of death with Sir Edward, who recorded the sequence of events in an internal memo for posterity. It is now lodged in the Royal Archives."
According to the book, the memo reads, "Dougie [Glass] in at 3.25. Very peaceful. In her sleep. Slipped away. Old age. Death has to be registered in Scotland. Agree 3.10pm. She wouldn't have been aware of anything. No pain."
Even though Charles was on his way back to Balmoral, it was Sir Edward Young's "first duty" to immediately reach the monarch by phone and inform him of his mother's death.
"Imagine if there had been some accident or a hold-up along the way," a senior official explains according to the book. "It was essential that the new King was told before anyone else."
After multiple attempts, Sir Edward Young finally reached Charles via an aide, who then handed the phone to his boss. According to Hardman, Charles knew what was coming next as he pulled into the back drive of the estate. That's when, for the first time, he was addressed as "Your Majesty," and no further explanation was needed.
As ET previously reported, Queen Elizabeth's death certificate stated she died of "old age." She was 96.
Her time of death was listed as 3:10 p.m. BST at Balmoral Castle in Scotland.
New King. New Court. Charles III. The Inside Story hits bookstores next week.
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