Queen Elizabeth II’s final diary entry – written just two days before she died – contained five simple words
Queen Elizabeth II’s final diary entry has been disclosed in the pages of King Charles III’s biography. Throughout her life and lengthy reign, the late monarch kept a detailed personal journal up until just two days before she passed away at age 96 on September 8, 2022.
Royal biographer Robert Hardman discovered the Queen’s diary while researching the updated chapters for his book about King Charles, according to Town and Country Magazine.
He revealed that the late monarch, who had a record-breaking 70-year reign, penned that “Edward came to see me”, in reference to Sir Edward Young, her private secretary, and wrote about the swearing-in of new Privy Council members.
She made the entry at Balmoral, Scotland, where she held a final audience with Liz Truss, who was then the prime minister of the UK before she passed away just two days later, Hardman revealed.
“It transpires that she was still writing it at Balmoral two days before her death,” he penned, per an excerpt in The Telegraph. “Her last entry was as factual and practical as ever.
“It could have been describing another normal working day starting in the usual way – ‘Edward came to see me’ – as she noted the arrangements which her private secretary, Sir Edward Young, had made for the swearing-in of the new ministers of the Truss administration,” he added.
The late Queen’s journal was not a place for her thoughts and feelings, but instead a record of events that had taken place throughout her busy, working life.
It is likely that she documented everything as a way of remembering what happened on any given day, and to help historians in the future.
She once told Kenneth Rose, the society diarist: “I have no time to record conversations, only events,” cited by the publication.
The late royal was not the only monarch who kept a diary during their time on the throne.
Queen Victoria famously penned over 60 million words in diaries she kept for nearly 70 years, from the age of 13 until she died aged 81 in 1901.
Elizabeth’s father, King George V, also kept a journal and wrote about some personal details, including how he felt on the day of his coronation on June 22, 1911.
It’s been disclosed that the 75-year-old King has followed in his mother’s footsteps, and reportedly kept his own practical diaries since he took the throne.
A senior courtier told The Telegraph that while “[King Charles] doesn’t write great narrative diaries like he used to,” he “scribbles down his recollections and reflections” on the day.
