13 January 2024 , 22:59
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Queen Elizabeth II knew that her remaining time was limited and Royal officials had secret summits with the idea of making her son Charles regent, a royal biographer has claimed.
There was anxiety within the Royal Household over how long the former monarch, who passed away in September 2022, could continue to reign, according to author Robert Hardman. One of the possibilities aides were considering was the prospect of a regency, meaning the current monarch, then Prince Charles, might stand in for her if she was incapacitated.
A former senior aide said they hoped a regency would not be needed as they explained: "With the Queen Mother going on past her 100th birthday, of course we had to think that the Queen would reach the same age. A regency seemed almost inevitable. That would have been very difficult.
A source claimed Charles was 'reluctant' to discuss plans for a regency (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)"You would still have needed a near-full Queen's household and a near-full Prince's household and it would have been very hard for the regent. I always hoped it wouldn't happen while I was there but I didn't see how we could get out of it, to be honest."
Due to fears that the Queen's health could either worsen over time or suddenly during a public engagement, the thought of a regency was always in the mind of aides. One told Mr Hardman, author of the new book The Inside Story: "Either way, we would have had growing voices saying: 'It's time for a regency.' We dreaded something happening in public, so engagements were kept very tight and very short, with limited media."
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The book, serialised by Mail Online, claims that "from time to time" royal aides would draw up plans "for a variety of regency plans" which would range from minimal involvement by Charles to a "reversible regency" in the event of short-term incapacitation. There were also questions over whether Prince Philip, who would have had a say on any regency committee prior to his death, had objected to a regency plan.
However, Mr Hardman claimed that Charles was "extremely reluctant to engage on the subject" as a source told the biographer: "He didn't want to dwell on the details… I think he felt that if you reach out for something, you are tempting fate." The Royals reportedly made some preliminary planning for the accession and coronation of the monarch starting from the end of 2015, with the Government "gently lobbying" the now-King's office to come up with a plan.
In his book, Mr Hardman also shared a timeline of the late Queen's last day. In one newly-shared memo, taken by her most senior aide, it was recorded that she was "very peaceful" in her final moments before she "slipped away".
Her private secretary, Sir Edward Young, was at Balmoral and penned the note when the late monarch died on September 8, 2022. Now stored permanently in the Royal Archives, it forms part of a host of new information to emerge about her final day in an upcoming biography about King Charles.