After the release of Prince Harry’s memoir ‘Spare‘, the world has realized that the royal family may have a lot of secrets that we know nothing about. The memoir spilled out many things that tarnished not just the relationships amongst the royal family members, but also Queen Elizabeth‘s image as the then reigning monarch. As the royal family drama gets a new twist each day, another book is scheduled for release, building anticipation for more royal secrets to be unveiled.
Robert Hardman’s upcoming book, ‘The Making of a King: King Charles III and the Modern Monarchy’ has already started making headlines with the media giving out glimpses of what is revealed in the book. Though the book chiefly revolves around King Charles’ journey as a monarch, it also reveals some unexpected twists. One of the details included in the book is the Queen’s private letters that she had written before her death.
Who Were Queen Elizabeth’s Last Letters Addressed To?
After the late Queen Elizabeth II passed away on September 8, 2022, she left behind a lot many things other than a grand legacy. One of those numerous things was a couple of letters that her staff stumbled upon much later after her death. The details of these letters — presumably some of the last ones she wrote before her death — are revealed in Robert Hardman’s upcoming book ‘The Making of a King: King Charles III and the Modern Monarchy’.
After the Queen’s death at Balmoral Castle, some senior staff as well as the late monarch’s private secretary Sir Edward Young were busy sketching out a plan for the aftermath of the tragedy. As mentioned in the book, a footman brought them one of the Queen’s famous red boxes which contained daily dispatches from ministers across the U.K. along with documents from representatives worldwide.
“It was the last one that had gone up to the Queen before her death,” Hardman writes in the book. “Like all red boxes, it had just two keys, one for the monarch and the other for her duty private secretary,” he further asserts.
The book then claims that Young found a sealed letter addressed to Prince Charles and another private missive intended for himself after the box was unlocked.
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What Was Written In The Monarch’s Last Letters?
The two letters that the Queen seemingly intended for her husband and her private secretary to find remain an intriguing mystery. Though the book reveals the existence of these letters, it does not detail their contents. Naturally, there is a variety of speculation about what the letters contained.
Some opine that the letters are likely to have held the Queen’s final instructions, while some others think it could be heartfelt farewells by her to her closest people.
“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? Elizabeth II had been completing her own last pieces of unfinished business,” Hardman writes of the letters in his book.
The book also mentions how the Queen obeyed her final royal duty by leaving a list of candidates for the Order of Merit. With a reputation for taking her responsibilities seriously, the Queen had reviewed the paperwork for the same just two days before her death. After it was completed and returned to Young, the list became the last document handled by Queen Elizabeth.
“It was the last document ever handled by Queen Elizabeth II. Even on her deathbed, there had been work to do. And she had done it,” Hardman writes in his book.
While there’s much already written and produced about the royal family, the upcoming book is set to stir some more talks and reveal some more facts about the monarchs.
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