ROYAL FAMILY NEWSQueen Elizabeth II Shocker: Monarch Allegedly Asked Doctors to 'Keep Me Alive' for 2022 Jubilee After She Was Given Just Several Months to Live
A former royal butler claimed Queen Elizabeth II was secretly diagnosed with cancer in 2021.
Sept. 10 2025, Published 10:57 a.m. ET
Queen Elizabeth II allegedly made a shocking request when her health began to go downhill.
In former royal butler Paul Burrell's book The Royal Insider, he claimed the monarch was secretly diagnosed with bone marrow cancer "just a few months" after her husband, Prince Philip, died at age 99 in April 2021.
Queen Elizabeth II's Request to Doctors
Former royal butler Paul Burrell claimed Queen Elizabeth II told doctors to keep her alive for her Platinum Jubilee in June 2022.
"It was devastating for her so soon after losing him," the ex-staffer wrote, per an excerpt of the tome obtained by another news outlet. The matriarch didn't tell anyone other than her inner circle, which included "her pages, her footmen and her dressers."
"As far as the family was concerned everything was fine, but the doctors’ prognosis gave her only until Christmas," Burrell penned. "The Queen’s response was, 'Well, that’s a shame, because next year is my Platinum Jubilee year and I’d quite like to have seen that. Can you keep me alive for that?'"
Queen Elizabeth II was in good spirits for her Platinum Jubilee, where she waved to the crowd while surrounded by royal family members.
The Platinum Jubilee in June 2022, which the Queen was around for, celebrated her 70 years on the throne.
To make it there, she allegedly "endured blood transfusions and scrupulously followed doctors’ orders, giving up her much-loved gin and tonics, gin and Dubonnets and martinis," Burrell said.
Though she "knew through it all that she was dying," the royal reportedly didn't tell her family members until "the final few months," as "she had intentionally kept them out of the loop as she didn’t want them to worry," the ex-butler noted.
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Burrell's book alleged the late monarch was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer in 2021.
It has never been confirmed whether or not the mother-of-four did have bone marrow cancer.
The claims about her plea to her medical team comes upon the third anniversary of her death on September 8, 2022, when she died at age 96.
The Queen's Loved Ones Mark Her 3-Year Death Anniversary
Prince Harry went to his grandmother's grave on the three-year anniversary of her death.
As OK! reported, since Prince Harry was in the U.K. for other reasons this year, he made time to stop by her grave on the sad day.
Prince William and Kate Middleton honored the late matriarch by visiting the Women's Institute in Sunningdale.
"The WI holds a special connection to Her Late Majesty, who was a member for 80 years, joining in 1943 and serving as President of the Sandringham WI from 2003 until her death in 2022," the couple wrote on Instagram alongside photos from their visit. "Very special opportunity to hear from members today about the importance of The Late Queen’s involvement in the organisation and meet those who met with her during her reign."
