Days earlier no one had any idea how ill Queen would become
After spending the summer at her beloved Balmoral...
With her increasing frailty in recent weeks and months, the Queen had cut back on her engagements.
But she still appeared to be in excellent spirits, according to visitors who met her at Balmoral.
Her good mood on tuesday – when she greeted new Prime Minister Liz truss with a smile – and the fact that members of the Royal Family were only scrambled to Balmoral on thursday morning suggest that her health took a catastrophic turn for the worse on Wednesday night. She died the following day.
Dr iain Greenshields, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, stayed with the Queen at Balmoral last weekend. they had dinner together on Saturday and lunch on Sunday.
He described the monarch as frail but in ‘really good spirits’ and ‘very engaging’ company.
He said he had been surprised by her sudden decline and death. Dr Greenshields recalled: ‘She was in great form, really good spirits – obviously frail, you can see that, but absolutely on the ball.
‘She was talking about her past, her love for Balmoral, her father, her mother, Prince Philip, horses... very engaged with what was happening in the church and what was happening in the nation too.’
Dr Greenshields told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme: ‘her health was frail – we knew that – but when i left her on Sunday she was very positive and i just find it very hard to believe that in those few days things had changed so much.’
He said she spoke ‘very movingly’ to him about the funeral of Prince Philip last year and how affected she was ‘particularly when the pipes were played during it’. he remembered: ‘this frail lady came in but there was still that sense of who she was and that real sense of making you feel immediately at ease – engaging with you immediately in conversation, a nice bright smile, everything you would expect of your monarch.’
Poignantly, he described how the Queen seemed joyful to be at her beloved highland home. he said: ‘in conversation with her, she took me over to the window and she was looking over her gardens with great pride and affection. And i think that’s where she would have wanted to spend her last days and i would think the family are comforted by that.
‘As far as her faith was concerned, it was very obvious, particularly i would say in the last ten years... how personal and how deep that went. She knew and understood exactly what the challenges were that faced the church.
‘She talked about that very clearly when she was speaking with me over the weekend.
‘It was obvious that she knew what she was talking about and it was really quite interesting to be able to sit down with somebody who was appraised of everything.’ he added: ‘She had an incredible respect for people of all faiths – and none of course as well – because she very much saw herself as the Queen who was there for all people.’ the Queen had enjoyed one of her happiest summers in recent years, entertaining a string of family and friends at Balmoral.
The photographer who took the last public pictures of her confirmed the monarch was in ‘good spirits’. Jane Barlow, of the Press Association news agency, had been sent to Balmoral to capture the moment when the Queen met Miss truss on tuesday. She said: ‘i got a lot of smiles from her.’
The Mail revealed yesterday that one source with close links to the royal household said the Queen had not been suffering any chronic condition – ‘she was old, not ill’.
Another insider said: ‘She’d lost a lot of weight and had been feeling all the aches and pains that a 96year-old woman would be expected to feel and had suffered terrible problems with her sore feet.’ the Queen was seen only weeks ago walking her corgis in the gardens.
‘She appeared in excellent spirits’