Queen Elizabeth Left a 'Secret Letter' for King Charles Shortly Before Her Death

Queen Elizabeth dedicated over seven decades of her life to protecting the British monarchy, and in her final hours, she prioritized diplomacy and preparing her heir, King Charles, for his role. In a new royal biography, Robert Hardman reveals Her Majesty penned two notes before passing away.

“It was the last one that had gone up to the Queen before her death,” Hardman wrote in The Making of a King: King Charles III and the Modern Monarchy. “Like all red boxes, it had just two keys, one for the monarch and the other for her duty private secretary.”

Elizabeth was aware that her health was declining, but she made sure to leave a message for Charles.

“We will probably never know what they said. However, it is clear enough that the Queen had known that the end was imminent and had planned accordingly. Were they final instructions or final farewells? Or both?” Hardman continued. “Elizabeth II had been completing her own last pieces of unfinished business.”

Throughout her reign, Elizabeth had a reputation for being thoughtful, and she was focused on ensuring she continued her royal duties until her last breath.

“The Queen had always taken it extremely seriously,” Hardman noted. “The paperwork had gone up to her two days before so that she could go through the notes and tick her choices."

"Here it was, completed and returned for Sir Edward to make the necessary arrangements. It was the last document ever handled by Queen Elizabeth II. Even on her deathbed, there had been work to do," he concluded. "And she had done it."

OK! previously reported Her Majesty's final moments were "peaceful,” as she was surrounded by loved ones.

On the night of September 6, 2022, "she was quite buzzy over pre-dinner drinks and talking about various prime ministers she had known," according to Hardman.

"But then she said she was going upstairs and would have dinner alone," he explained. "It was the last time most of her immediate household would see her."

"Even in familiar surroundings, the exertions of this, her most ­fundamental constitutional duty, had taken a greater toll than ­anyone had imagined," the editor stated.

Elizabeth died at Balmoral, and her daughter, Princess Anne, happened to be on the property unexpectedly.

"The following morning, September 7, the Queen's health deteriorated," Hardman explained.

''It was purely serendipity that I was there," Anne said. "I'd been two days up on the West Coast, and I was coming back, stayed the night, and was going south."

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Aside from Elizabeth's well-being, Hardmand explored an ongoing scandal in his project. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle named their youngest child, Princess Lilibet, after Elizabeth, but a palace insider claimed the couple "never asked" her for approval.

A palace staffer "privately recalled that the Queen had been ‘as angry as I’d ever seen her’ in 2021 after the Sussexes announced that she had given them her blessing to call their baby daughter ‘Lilibet,' the Queen’s childhood nickname," the royal expert said.