A source close to the late Queen Elizabeth II has revealed how the monarch came to terms with the news that she would not live as long as her mother.
Her Late Majesty passed away aged 96 on September 8 2022 while on her final holiday at Balmoral, her Scottish estate in the Highlands.
While this is undoubtedly an impressive age to reach, the Queen Mother was over 100 when she died on March 30 2002, just a few months shy of her 102nd birthday.
A friend of the late Queen told the Daily Mail: “She had come to realise that the medical prognosis meant she was not going to emulate her mother and reach 100, so she had been determined to make the most of that [final] year.
“She made sure she had all the family up over the summer, so that the young ones in particular would always be left with happy memories of her.”
In the last year of her life the Queen became more obviously frail, however even many years before that there had been discussions about the possibility of a regency.
A regency would have seen then-Prince Charles act in the role of monarch if his mother was too old or unwell to carry out her royal duties.
A senior former aide said: “With the Queen Mother going on past her 100th birthday, of course we had to think that the Queen would reach the same age. A regency seemed almost inevitable. That would have been very difficult.
“You would still have needed a near-full Queen’s household and a near-full Prince’s household and it would have been very hard for the regent. I always hoped it wouldn’t happen while I was there but I didn’t see how we could get out of it, to be honest.”
Although the Queen did reduce her engagements towards the end of her life as she became less mobile, she kept up her royal duties and obligations right to the end.
Her last appearance in public came just three months before her death during the four-day celebrations for her Platinum Jubilee year, as she greeted delighted crowds from the Buckingham Palace balcony.
The late Queen’s death came just 17 months after the loss of her beloved husband Prince Philip, who died aged 99 on April 9 2021 at home in Windsor.
In spite of her condition the Queen still wanted to travel to Balmoral for her annual holiday, with her daughter Princess Anne later revealing how worried her mother was about any possible inconvenience this could cause.
The Princess Royal told the BBC: “I think there was a moment when she felt that it would be more difficult if she died at Balmoral. And I think we did try and persuade her that that shouldn’t be part of the decision-making process.
“So I hope she felt that that was right in the end, because I think we did.”
