The death certificate of Elizabeth II has been published: we now know the cause of her death
Steph Deschamps / September 30, 2022
The death certificate of Elizabeth II, who died on September 8 at the age of 96, was released Thursday by the National Archives of Scotland.
After 70 years of reign, Elizabeth II died in her Scottish castle of Balmoral. Her death was announced by Buckingham Palace at 18:30 local time, but it was known that the Prime Minister Liz Truss had been informed at 16:30.
On the day of his death, his eldest son, now Charles III, had arrived at Balmoral by mid-day, but his other sons Andrew and Edward, as well as Charles’ son William, had not arrived until the evening. William’s brother Harry did not arrive until much later.
The certificate was signed by Princess Anne, the daughter of Elizabeth II, who had accompanied the sovereign during her last hours.
On it we can read:
“Time of death: 15H10“
“Cause: old age
“Profession: Her Majesty the Queen
And Windsor Castle, on the western outskirts of London, appeared to be her “usual” address: she had been spending most of her time there since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, whereas Buckingham Palace in the capital is usually the main residence of British monarchs.
Elizabeth II’s last public appearance was on September 6, when she appointed the new Prime Minister Liz Truss to form a government. The sovereign appeared smiling but frail, leaning on her cane.
In recent years, the palace had remained very discreet about the state of health of the sovereign. It was only after leaks to the press that it revealed that she had been hospitalized overnight a year ago for tests, the nature of which was never specified. Then, mobility problems had been mentioned, while she cancelled many appearances.
Ten days of national mourning followed the death of the Queen. Tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of people lined up to pay their respects to her coffin, first in Edinburgh, then in London, at Westminster.
Some 2,000 people, including heads of state and members of royal families, attended the state funeral in Westminster Abbey on September 19. But thousands more crowded the roads to see the coffin of the immensely popular queen for the last time.
The queen was buried in the chapel of Windsor Castle, 40 kilometers from London, alongside her husband Prince Philip, her parents and her sister.
The castle reopened Thursday, attracting hundreds of people, who were able to see the tombstone of the late monarch at the George VI Memorial, father of Elizabeth II died in 1952.
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