THE late Queen was still her incredible self in the lead up to her death, says a royal expert who met Her Majesty a massive 40 times.
Queen Elizabeth died “peacefully” on September 8, 2022 aged 96 – with her final days spent having fun at Balmoral with family.
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And in the months leading up to her death, the Monarch was the same she always had been, an expert says.
Royal historian and biographer Hugo Vickers says he’s met the Queen 40 times between 1968 and 2022 and still remembers the first time like it was yesterday.
He also remembers the last as vividly.
Speaking on The Sun’s Royal Exclusive show, Hugo said: “I met the Queen 40 times between 1968 and 2022.
“The last time I saw her I was allowed to go and visit her in her opening of Windsor Castle in June of the the year she died.
“Now that was very special, I spent 15 minutes with her – she was firing on all cylinders chatting away.
“We talked a lot about the fire restorarion and things to do with Windsor and St George’s Chapel and she was amazing.”
Hugo went on to relay the first time he met the Queen, when he was just a boy.
The expert told our Royal Editor Matt Wilkinson: “First time, when I was at school I used to show tourists around St George’s Chapel at Windsor on Sunday afternoons – it was open in those days.
“And one afternoon I was planted on a door where they were actually building the little tomb house for where the King and Queen Mother and where the Queen and Prince Philip are buried.
“There was a construction around a wooden door and the Queen just came around the corner and there she was. And then the Queen Mother – I got two of them in the same day.”
Hugo also told The Sun what Meghan Markle did to the late Queen was “unforgivable”.
When asked what did he think had been the biggest crisis in the Royal Family over the past 50 years, the expert initially pointed to the death of Diana.
Hugo said: “Well, 50 years doesn’t take in the abdication, so I suppose the death of Diana in 1997 was the big crisis point.
“But, at the risk of being controversial, will the arrival of Meghan Markle prove to be a bigger one in the long run? Who knows.”
Picking up on the theme, Matt agreed adding the time between the arrival of the Duchess of Sussex, everything changing and Meghan and Harry leaving to start a new life in California was a “huge crisis in the Royal Family”.
Hugo said: “I think it’s quite interesting all that because I was in Windsor the day they got married and the popularity and good will towards them was enormous.
“I don’t think it was the press, she succeeded in evading that very, very quickly.
“What I find unforgivable, is the stress she put on the late Queen in the last couple of years of her life.”
It comes after a historic memo claimed the Queen’s final moments were “painless”.
The Queen‘s most senior staff member Sir Edward Young has described the moment of her death in an extraordinary book.
The devoted private secretary: “Very peaceful. In her sleep. Slipped away. Old age. She wouldn’t have been aware of anything. No pain.”
Inside Queen’s ‘fun’ final days
The Queen spent her final days at Balmoral having fun with family, reading the Racing Post and watching TV with staff.
Her Majesty passed away on in Spetember 2022 in the royal retreat where she spent many happy summers with her beloved Philip.
She spent her final hours in the bosom of her family, in the place she was the most at home.
And now it’s been reveal how she spent her final “fun” days.
The Queen spent three months every summer at the Scottish castle and would “kick off her shoes” and relax.
This 50,000-acre estate beside the River Dee in the Scottish Highlands is where she could be a mum, and a wife – a world away from life as the most famous woman on the planet.
She arrived at Balmoral for the last time on July 23, her second summer without Prince Philip.
She flew by private helicopter and was expected to stay until October to take some time away from royal duties.
Her Majesty first stayed in the seven-bedroom Craigowan Lodge on Royal Deeside, before moving a mile down the road to live in Balmoral Castle on August 9.
Here she stayed with her beloved staff, including Page of the Backstairs Paul Whybrew – who is 6ft 6in and nicknamed Tall Paul – and her Serjeant-at-Arms Barry Mitford.
The pair would bring the life-long horse fan the Racing Post every morning before sitting down to watch some TV.
And her righthand woman and best friend, Angela Kelly, who worked as the Queen’s personal assistant and dresser was with her until the very end.
Right up until her death the Queen welcomed visitors who kept her company.
The last weekend before she died Dr Iain Greenshields, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, stayed with her at the castle.
He said she was in “really good spirits” and told how he was moved by how she spoke about her beloved Prince Philip.
They had dinner together on Saturday and lunch on Sunday – and even eerily brushed on the subject of afterlife.
And he said the Queen seemed to be delighted to be spending time at her beloved highland home.
He said: “In conversation with her, she took me over to the window and she was looking over her gardens with great pride and affection.
“And I think that’s where she would have wanted to spend her last days and I would think the family are comforted by that.”
She then went on to “reflect on life” as they discussed her faith and the afterlife.
Two days later, on September 6, the Queen hosted an audience with new Prime Minister Liz Truss.
Photos showed the pair in the castle for the traditional “kissing of the hands” ceremony.
Truss was the Queen’s 15th Prime Minister during her more than 70 years as Monarch.
Photos showed her smiling in the green drawing room as she chatted with Truss for 30 minutes.
Two days after, on September 8, the Queen died “peacefully” at Balmoral.
The King and Princess Anne both managed to make it to her bedside before she died.
Senior royals faced a grim race against time to say goodbye after doctors shared the tragic news Her Majesty had just hours to live.
Sadly just two of the Queen’s four children were able to make it to her bedside in Balmoral in time.
Princess Anne and King Charles were in Scotland on royal business already when the heartbreaking news was announced.