Even though Princess Anne was grieving the loss of her mother, she was still very helpful in the hours following the Queen’s death. Ever the pragmatic, Anne assumed command at Balmoral and saw to it that family members had the opportunity to say their final goodbyes.
Anne proved to be a rock of support for Prince Harry, who showed up at the Scottish estate a few hours after Her Majesty had passed away.
Photo: Getty Images
Author Robert Hardman shed light on the events that transpired in the hours following the Queen’s death in his recently published book, “Charles III: New King, New Court: The Inside Story.” Anne had a significant part in these events.
“One of the King’s first decisions was to ask Princess Anne to take charge of the house party now rapidly expanding at Balmoral Castle” Mr Hardman wrote in the book, serialised by Mail Online. “Over the next few days, the Princess Royal would prove to be indispensable. When Prince Harry did show up, she was there.
He was left to pay his respects to his late grandmother after she gave him a warm hug and led him up to the Queen’s bedroom. Harry then went downstairs to join the family for dinner. But neither his brother nor his father was present. By this point, the King and Queen Camilla had made their way back to Birkhall, the mansion on the Balmoral estate.”
Photo: © Max Mumby/Indigo
It follows the confirmation that the late Queen passed away quietly in her sleep in a recent memo written by her private secretary, Sir Edward Young.
It says this in the book: “Extremely serene. while she was asleep. slid off. Old age. Nothing would have been known to her. Not in pain.”
The biography also claims that two letters, one addressed to King Charles and the other to Sir Edward, were discovered inside a red box of paperwork that the footman had opened on the Queen’s deathbed. It is unlikely that the contents of these letters will ever be made public. “Even on her deathbed, there had been work to be done,” Mr. Hardman wrote. She had also completed the task.”
According to other passages from the book, the Queen and King Charles had an hour together prior to Her Majesty’s death on September 8, 2022, and Charles was informed of Her Majesty’s passing as he was making his way back to Balmoral from picking mushrooms.
Photo: © Samir Hussein
Amid concerns regarding the Queen’s well-being, Charles reviewed his notes on London Bridge, the codename for the operation regarding her death, while in a helicopter heading to Balmoral. He personally instructed Prince William and Prince Harry to go there, despite the prevailing belief at the time that the monarch would only have a few days or hours to live.
The biography also disclosed that the Queen was read to from the Bible by the Rev. Kenneth MacKenzie, with Princess Anne and Angela Kelly, her closest friend, taking turns at her bedside.
