Things have changed in England. Queen Elizabeth II’s death made way for a new monarch, her son King Charles III. While we know that she had a long reign as queen and was a well-liked monarch, not a lot was known about the moments leading up to her death until now.

The Daily Mail’s royal biographer, Robert Hardman, shared exclusive details about the queen’s last moments. He shared that towards the end of her life, when her health seemed to be deteriorating, after some thought, Prince Charles decided to drop everything and go to his mother just in case it really was the end of her life. The Princess Royal called Prince Charles and told him to come to his mother. He flew there by helicopter. Prince William was also contacted and summoned to his grandmother’s beside.

That reassuring moment when you finally get your hands on the first copies. Due out next Thursday. pic.twitter.com/2zx9Ra4bnm

— Robert Hardman (@hardmanr) January 10, 2024

Prince Harry was also in Britain due to charity engagements, and he immediately started looking at flights. Yet, nobody knew how bad the queen’s health actually was. They didn’t think it would only be hours until she passed away. They thought there were probably at least several days left.

One sign of alarm for the family was when the queen stated that she planned to spend the whole day in bed. At that point, Dr. Glass was called and visited the queen. When her health failed further, he received another urgent call.

The situation became more urgent. Prince Charles had been “out collecting mushrooms and his thoughts” when he was summoned to his mother’s beside. Hardman writes, “It was now a question of minutes. By the time Dr Glass had reached the Queen’s bedroom, she appeared to have stopped breathing — though only a doctor could say so for sure.” He emerged from the room and announced her death to the queen’s private secretary, Sir Edward Young.

Young was now tasked with notifying the new King of his mother’s death before anyone else told him or found out. Young called the King and told him the news, not wanting to risk waiting until the King arrived.

According to one of Young’s colleagues, when the King arrived, “He told Edward, ‘I know how much you’ll miss her and how loyal you were to her.’ It should have been the other way round with Edward consoling him, but that’s the way it is when you are the monarch. Then the King asked him if he would stay on for the time being.”

The new King called his son, Prince William, to notify him of the queen’s death. According to a member of the palace, he also tried to call his younger son, Prince Harry, but failed to reach him. This was apparently due to the fact the Harry was en-route via airplane at the time his father was trying to call him.

After her death, Young also opened a red box that contained just two letters, one to the new king and one to himself. Hardman wrote, “Sir Edward Young was not sure what to expect as he turned the lock. Inside, he found that Elizabeth II had left a sealed letter to her heir and a private letter to himself. Were they final instructions or final farewells? Or both? We will probably never know what they said. However, it is clear that the Queen had known that the end was imminent and had planned accordingly.”

He added, “There was something else in that red box, too. It was the long-list of candidates to fill vacancies in the ranks of the Order of Merit, together with notes on each one, so that the Queen could approve her own shortlist.” He continued, “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.”