Queen Elizabeth died of “old age” at 3:10 p.m. on Sept. 8, the paperwork shows. Queen Elizabeth II died of “old age,” according to her death certificate, which was released on Thursday by the registrar general of Scotland. The certificate, which lists her occupation as Her Majesty the Queen, also notes that the queen died at 3:10 p.m. on Sept. 8 at Balmoral Castle. The first fact is indisputable, given that the queen was 96. But the report offers no further details about the cause of her death, which came two days after she was photographed standing and smiling as she greeted Britain’s new prime minister, Liz Truss.
The time of death, just after 3 p.m., is more revealing, coming more than three hours before Buckingham Palace announced it at 6:30 p.m. That indicates none of her family saw the queen just before her death, aside from King Charles III and his sister, Princess Anne, who were both already in Scotland on official duties.
Her two other sons, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, and her grandson Prince William arrived at Balmoral, in the Scottish highlands, shortly after 5 p.m., while Prince Harry, who travelled separately, did not get there until just before 8 p.m.
The death certificate was registered in Aberdeenshire by Princess Anne. The doctor who certified it was Douglas James Allan Glass, and the registrar general of Scotland, Paul Lowe, authorized its release. Buckingham Palace first raised the alarm about the queen’s condition in a statement issued at 12:35 p.m. on Sept. 8. It said that her doctors were concerned about her health and that she had been placed under medical supervision. Members of the royal family immediately began heading for Balmoral Castle. Ms Truss had just announced a major energy market intervention in Parliament when news of the queen’s deteriorating condition began to circulate in the House of Commons. She left the chamber shortly afterwards. Downing Street has said that Ms Truss was informed of the queen’s death at 4:30 p.m. The queen had problems with mobility for several months before her death. She had cancelled multiple public appearances, including the bulk of the festivities marking her Platinum Jubilee, emerging only briefly on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to watch a flyover of jets in her honour. In the photograph with Ms Truss, the queen held a walking stick in her left hand. She had also recovered from a bout with Covid-19 in February, an experience that she later said left her exhausted and drained.