CRAIG BROWN reveals the story of the Queen’s final days in his new ebook

Tuesday, Sept 6, 2022

Her fourteenth prime minister, Boris Johnson, visits the Queen at Balmoral to formally tender his resignation. The Queen stands to greet him. They talk about the political situation, and laugh and joke. Johnson finds her ‘full of characteristic humour and wisdom’.

When Johnson has left, the Queen is told that Liz Truss‘s arrival at Aberdeen airport has been delayed. She seizes the opportunity to phone her racehorse trainer Clive Cox. She wants to hear what he thinks the chances are of her two-year-old filly Love Affairs winning the 3.05 race at Goodwood that afternoon. Cox finds the Queen ‘as sharp as a tack’.

12.10pm: Liz Truss is escorted into the drawing room at Balmoral. She curtsies to the Queen in front of a roaring fire. Photographs are taken of the two of them together. These are the last ever taken of the Queen.

During their 20-minute conversation, the Queen warns Liz Truss that being prime minister can be ‘incredibly ageing’. She also offers her two words of advice: ‘pace yourself’. The Queen bids goodbye to Truss, saying, ‘We’ll meet again’.

In the afternoon, the Queen’s horse, Love Affairs, wins the Fillies’ Nursery Handicap at Goodwood by one and a half lengths.

Wednesday, Sept 7

The Queen tells her staff that she will remain in bed for the day. Princess Anne, who is staying at Balmoral, sends for the local GP, Dr Douglas Glass.

That night, the new team at Downing Street are discreetly advised to keep black ties in their desks over the coming days.

Thursday, Sept 8

8am: Princess Anne is worried and passes on her concerns to her elder brother.

9.30am: The Duke and Duchess of Cornwall arrive at Birkhall, their home on the Balmoral estate. They spend an hour at the Queen’s bedside. Douglas Glass reports that she is stable, but weak: she has a day or two, rather than an hour or two.

12 noon: Prince Charles phones Prince Harry, who is in London with his wife for an award ceremony. The number comes up on Harry’s mobile as ‘Unknown’. His father tells him: ‘Granny’s health has taken a turn.’

Harry immediately texts his brother William asking whether he and Kate are flying up to Scotland. ‘If so, when? And how?’ There is no response. Harry and Meghan investigate the various flight options.

The BBC’s senior news presenter, Huw Edwards, is on his way to a hairdresser in central London. His mobile phone was stolen last night, so he is unaware of the crisis, or that the BBC is trying to get hold of him.

On social media, word spreads that the Queen is dying, or perhaps dead: no one is sure.

At her home in Spitalfields, the feminist author Jeanette Winterson changes into black and awaits the official announcement. ‘As an adopted person, she has been the one and only stable female in my life,’ she writes.

12.50pm: Buckingham Palace announces that the Queen’s sons Andrew and Edward, her grandson William and her daughter-in-law Sophie are all on their way to Balmoral.

1pm: Huw Edwards arrives at his hairdresser, where he is passed a message from his son: ‘Get to work immediately.’

1.52pm: Harry and Meghan issue a statement that they will both be flying to Scotland and will therefore be unable to attend a charity event in London.

Huw Edwards has by now arrived at the BBC. He appears on screen, wearing a black suit and very dark blue tie.

2.15pm: Prince Charles calls Harry and asks him not to bring Meghan to Balmoral. Harry finds the reason given ‘nonsensical and disrespectful’.

Charles stammers an apology, explaining that he doesn’t want too many people around and that none of the wives is coming: Kate is remaining in London. ‘Then that’s all you needed to say,’ replies Harry.

2.39pm: Prince William, Prince Edward and his wife Sophie and Prince Andrew set off from RAF Northolt. At Luton airport, Prince Harry manages to charter a private Cessna jet for himself.

Beside the Queen’s bed, the Reverend Kenneth MacKenzie, minister at Crathie church, reads to her from her Bible. Shortly after 3pm Dr Glass is called.

Around the same time, Princess Anne calls Prince Charles, who is out in the grounds of Birkhall picking mushrooms, and tells him to come immediately.

By the time Dr Glass arrives at her bedside, the Queen has stopped breathing. He emerges from the bedroom and tells Sir Edward Young, her deputy private secretary, the sad news.

Young makes a note. ‘Dougie 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,’ reads the internal memo he writes.

Sir Edward calls Prince Charles in his Land Rover. He asks him to pull his car over. His first words – ‘Your Majesty’ – are enough. Princess Anne is visibly upset. On the spur of the moment, a senior member of staff at Balmoral offers her a hug. ‘That is the last time that is going to happen,’ she says, once it is over.

5.06pm: Prince Andrew, Prince Edward and Sophie, Countess of Wessex arrive at Balmoral in a Land Rover driven by Prince William. Talking over a shot of their arrival, the veteran BBC royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell says: ‘I would say that, in the absence of hard facts, the images are now telling the story.’

6.30pm: On the BBC, Huw Edwards, in a black tie, says: ‘We are expecting the news from Balmoral that she’s having – er – treatment, or that indeed they are unable to help Her Majesty any more.’

At this point, his producer speaks into his earpiece: ‘The announcement is here. Take your time. Speak when you are ready. Don’t rush.’

Edwards looks to the camera and says: ‘A few moments ago, Buckingham Palace announced the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The Palace has just issued this statement. It says the Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon.

‘The King and the Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow. To recap on the statement, the Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon.’ He can then be heard to gulp softly.

The screen is filled with an official portrait of the young Queen Elizabeth II while the National Anthem plays.

In the pouring rain, the Union flag at Buckingham Palace is lowered to half-mast.

Later, a YouGov survey discovers that 44 per cent of adult Britons shed a tear at the news of the Queen’s death: 55 per cent of women, and 32 per cent of men.

The American writer A.M. Holmes, another adopted child, texts Jeanette Winterson: ‘We’re orphans now.’

6.40pm: As his plane approaches Aberdeen airport, Prince Harry receives a text from Meghan: ‘Call me the moment you get this.’ He looks at the BBC website and realises he is too late.

7.07pm: The Prime Minister, Liz Truss, dressed all in black, delivers a tribute to the late Queen from a podium outside the front door of 10 Downing Street.

7.52pm: Prince Harry arrives at Balmoral. He is greeted by Princess Anne, who hugs him and tells him that the others have gone to Birkhall. She asks him if he wants to see Granny.

She leads him upstairs to the Queen’s bedroom. He braces himself and enters. He finds the room dimly lit.

‘I moved ahead uncertainly, and there she was. I stood, frozen, staring. I stared and stared. It was difficult, but I kept on, thinking how I’d regretted not seeing my mother at the end.’

8.15pm: Harry has dinner with some of the other members of his family at Balmoral, though his father, stepmother and brother remain at Birkhall.

By the end of the day, the Liberal Democrats have cancelled their party conference, the trades unions have cancelled their planned walkouts for postal and rail workers, the Bank of England has postponed its decision on interest rates, the Last Night of the Proms is called off for the first time since the war and Fortnum & Mason, the Piccadilly store favoured by the Royal Family, has blacked out its windows and stopped its famous clock.

The drivers of London’s black cabs gather in the Mall for an impromptu parade. ‘Liz is a London girl. She’s one of ours,’ says cabbie Michael Ackerman.

Celebrities express their grief via social media. J. K. Rowling says some might find an outpouring of British shock and grief ‘quaint or odd’, but ‘millions felt affection and respect for the woman who uncomplainingly filled her constitutional role for 70 years’.

In America, President Biden orders all flags on US government buildings to be flown at half-mast until her funeral.

In Paris, the lights of the Eiffel Tower are dimmed.

Around the world, landmarks are illuminated with giant images of the Queen: the sails of the Sydney Opera House, the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro. In New York, the Empire State Building is lit up in silver and purple, and the Stock Exchange falls silent.

Friday, Sept 9

After a sleepless night, Prince Harry leaves Balmoral at daybreak, having still not encountered either his father or his brother.

A card from the Queen is delivered to Gwendolyn Hoare at her home in Manningtree, Essex, congratulating her on her 100th birthday. During her lifetime, the Queen is estimated to have sent 307,000 100th-birthday messages. Gwendolyn Hoare may well be the last recipient.

‘It makes me quite tearful,’ she says. ‘I am a royalist, old-fashioned. What an honour! I very much admired the Queen and all she did. So when she went, it was a sad moment, but she didn’t go before she sent me this. I wasn’t sure I would get it but I was thrilled when I did. Aren’t I honoured? Aren’t I lucky?’

At his local church, the 73-year-old Michael Fagan, who entered the Queen’s bedroom, uninvited, 40 years ago, lights a candle in her memory.

Johnny Rotten, now known as John Lydon, tweets, ‘Rest in Peace Queen Elizabeth II. Send her victorious.’

Other former rock ‘n’ roll rebels also pay tribute. ‘For my whole life Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II has always been there,’ tweets Mick Jagger. ‘In my childhood I can recall watching her wedding highlights on TV.

‘I remember her as a beautiful young lady, to the much beloved grandmother of the nation. My deepest sympathies are with the Royal Family.’

Heavy-metal stars pay their respects. ‘Iron Maiden are saddened to learn of the passing of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II – a British institution and global inspiration for more than 70 years. God Bless you Ma’am.’

‘I mourn with my country the passing of our greatest Queen,’ tweets Ozzy Osbourne of Black Sabbath. ‘With a heavy heart I say it is devastating the thought of England without Queen Elizabeth II.’

Liam Gallagher, former lead singer with Oasis, tweets a single word: ‘Gutted.’

Saturday, Sept 10

Among the mass of floral tributes left in Green Park and St James’s Park, hundreds of Paddington Bear cuddly toys are visible, as well as teapots and marmalade sandwiches.

Sunday, Sept 11

The Queen’s coffin is borne away from Balmoral on the shoulders of six gamekeepers. The Queen’s staff weep as they line up to honour her.

The hearse sets off on its route to Edinburgh, followed by Princess Anne and her husband, Sir Timothy Laurence. For the entire six-hour journey, people line the roads, sometimes ten deep.

Princess Anne is moved by the way farmers have cleaned their tractors before lining them up along the route, and have plaited their ponies’ manes.

Tuesday, Sept 13

7 pm: The Queen’s coffin arrives at RAF Northolt in a vast RAF C-17 Globemaster. Nearly six million people attempt to follow its path on the internet, causing the aircraft-tracking website, Flightradar24, to crash.

The coffin is loaded into a new state hearse. Designed in consultation with the Queen, it sports large windows and a glass roof: in death, as in life, Her Majesty’s visibility is paramount.

As darkness falls, her coffin is lit by bulbs inside the hearse. For most of the 15-mile journey to Buckingham Palace, silent crowds stand in the rain by the side of the road.

Some choose to honour the memory of the Queen in unconventional ways. In High Wycombe, Bucks, Graham Wilson, a 54-year-old construction worker, spends £1,400 having his left thigh tattooed with two images of the Queen, one at her Coronation and the other in old age.

‘She’s iconic and I just wanted to pay homage to her,’ he explains. ‘When I was watching the news I just knew suddenly it was what I wanted to do. Beth, the tattooist, had a cancellation so it was meant to be.’ All Premier League and English Football League games are postponed, and so too are all rugby, boxing, cycling, golf and horse-racing events.

The phrase ‘mark of respect’ becomes hard to avoid. Respect is marked in all sorts of unexpected ways. The supermarket Morrisons turns down the volume of the beeps from its tills.

Sadly, this confuses some shoppers, who think that the tills have broken. ‘I was standing in the queue for self-service for what felt like an eternity as everyone in front of me struggled,’ complains one irate shopper. ‘… It wasn’t until it was my turn that I found out they had turned off the beep.

‘One of the assistants came over so I said, ‘I think people are struggling as the beep is turned off’. She said, ‘Did you not know we are in a period of national mourning? We have turned off all beeps as a sign of respect’, as if I was meant to know this.’

Center Parcs decides to close for 24 hours ‘as a mark of respect’. When holidaying families complain at being turfed out for a night, the company reverses its decision, but insists that many of its facilities must remain closed.

Others take the opportunity to combine grieving with marketing. A round-robin email from Ilkley Brewery in Yorkshire reads: ‘To mark the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, and in recognition of her 70 years of service, we’re discounting bottles from our seasonal and specials range by 30 per cent so that they are priced at 70 per cent of their normal price. Offer runs until midnight on the day of the funeral. Shop now using code Queen70.’

On WhatsApp, drug dealers mark the Queen’s passing in their own special way. ‘Are you feeling upset or feeling down with the sad news about the Queen’s death? Then don’t hesitate to contact me, I’m about till 1am!’ writes one dealer.

While another makes a generous offer: ‘In Tribute To The Queen Who Was 96 Years Old At Her Time Of Passing, I Will Reduce The Price Of IG Bolivian Flake to £96 Tomorrow And Saturday Guys!’

There has been considerable jostling for seats in Westminster Abbey for the funeral. For some, an invitation is a status symbol.

When Sir Gavin Williamson MP, PC (Privy Counsellor), a former secretary of state for education, is excluded, he grows embittered. He texts government chief whip Wendy Morton: ‘Think very poor how PCs who aren’t favoured have been excluded from the funeral.’ 

Subsequent angry texts pour through his phone like acid. ‘It is very clear how you are going to treat a number of us which is very stupid and you are showing f*** all interest in pulling things together,’ he writes again to Morton.

‘Also this shows exactly how you have rigged it is is [sic] disgusting you are using her death to punish people who are just supportive… let’s see how many more times you f*** us all over.’

The funeral is watched on television by 37.5 million people in the UK and over four billion elsewhere, or roughly half the people on the planet. This sets a new world record.

The Abbey’s tenor bell tolls 96 times, one for each year of the Queen’s life.

‘She was joyful,’ says the Archbishop of Canterbury. ‘Present to so many, touching a multitude of lives.’ He recalls the Queen’s declaration on her 21st birthday to dedicate her whole life to service. ‘Rarely has such a promise been so well kept,’ he says.

Later, at Windsor Castle, the Royal Family process behind the hearse. The Queen’s two corgis, Muick and Sandy, look on.

In St George’s Chapel, the choir sings Psalm 121 while pallbearers from the Grenadier Guards carry the coffin up the nave.

It is laid on a catafalque covered in purple velvet in the quire where King Charles I and King Henry VIII are buried.

In a dramatic moment, the Queen’s eighth Lord Chamberlain – Lord Parker of Minsmere, a former head of MI5 – breaks his wand of office to mark the end of his duty. The two broken halves are placed on the coffin, to be buried with her.

As she witnesses the Sceptre, Orb and Imperial State Crown being removed from the top of the coffin, Princess Anne feels an unexpected emotion: ‘I rather weirdly felt a sense of relief – that somehow it’s finished.’

The Dean of Windsor says: ‘Go forth upon thy journey from this world, O Christian soul,’ and the Queen’s coffin begins its slow, discreet descent into the Royal Vault. The time is 4.50pm.

Pipe Major James Banks draws a mournful lament from his bagpipes, and walks out of the chapel and towards the Deanery, the sound fading as he goes.

The Queen is dead. Long live the King.

Adapted from A Voyage Around The Queen by Craig Brown, to be published by Fourth Estate on August 29, at £25. © Craig Brown 2024. To order a copy for £21.25 (offer valid to August 31; UK P&P free on orders over £25) go to www.mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3176 2937.

Young witnesses to a touching royal moment 

Memories of the late Queen abound. In a letter to The Times, Mike Hattersley from Milnthorpe in Cumbria recalls the day in 1954 when his mother took him, aged seven, and his brother, aged nine, to witness the Queen’s arrival at Bradford Town Hall.

They had been too small to spot more than the passing roof of her Rolls-Royce and burst into tears.

Their mother then took them to see the Queen departing from Manningham station, but once again they couldn’t get anywhere near, so shed more tears.

Finally, she rushed them along a couple of streets and down an alley, helping them up a wall and telling them to watch and wait.

‘After the music and cheering at the station died down, half a mile to our right the royal train drew towards us.

‘Behind a glass carriage door stood our Queen and Prince Philip. They had thrown off their coats, and stood together looking out, with their arms round each other.

‘No doubt they were glad their duties were over, but when they saw two little boys on the wall they came alive, really waving – just for us. That wasn’t duty, it was love.’