King Charles III almost missed his mother’s final hours because the seriousness of her condition was not clear, according to a new book.
The King, formerly known as the Prince of Wales, was absent from Balmoral leading up to the time of the Queen’s death and was persuaded by royal advisors to make it to the Queen’s bedside before she died on September 8 2022.
Charles III had to decide whether to fly to Balmoral before there was any serious signs that the Queen’s condition was about to deteriorate.
At the time the prince was in Scotland on a royal duty at Dumfries House in Ayrshire.
The seriousness of the Queen's condition was not clear the day before her death.
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He continued to receive regular updates on the Queen’s health while he was holding the series of charitable engagements.
The decision was difficult for Charles to make as he knew that if he travelled to Balmoral, it would gain much media and Government attention about the Queen’s health.
But, by the evening of September 7, Princess Anne and the prince’s private secretary told him to be prepared to leave.
Robert Hardman, author of a new biography of Charles III, writes that a member of staff stated: “They were both saying to him: ‘Think how you would feel if you never said goodbye.
King Charles flew to Balmoral to see the Queen hours before her death.
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“Clive said that if it did turn out to be the wrong call, then they could blame it on him.’”
In the morning of the day of the Queen’s death, Princess Anne told Charles to come to Balmoral.
Before 9:30am a helicopter took Charles, Camilla, her deputy private secretary and a protection officer on a one-hour flight to see the Queen.
On the flight, the prince began to read over the initial phases of Operation London Bridge, the name for the plan of events following the Queen’s death.
The Royal Banner of Scotland above Balmoral Castle is flown at half mast following the announcement of the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
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The Queen died on September 8 2022.
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Hardman writes about how Sir Clive told staff that he hoped the prince would arrive to Balmoral to be greeted by the Queen on the doorstop saying: “What on Earth do you think you are doing?”
But when Charles and Camilla touched down it was clear that the Queen was in critical condition.
The biography records that after visiting his mother for the final time, Charles went on a trip for mushrooms to “clear his head.”
The new biography, Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story is to be released on January 18 2024.
