A new book on the later Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away on September 8 at the age of 96 and became the longest-serving monarch, claims that she battled cancer without acknowledging it. Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait, authored by Gyles Brandreth reveals other aspects of the British royal family.
According to the British daily newspaper, The Daily Mail, British broadcaster Gyles Brandreth claims that the late Queen fought the sufferings of bone marrow cancer. At the time of the Queen’s death, her death certificate officially wrote old age as the cause. The book also mentions various other details like the Queen’s reaction to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s interview on Oprah’s show. Here are some revelations from the book.
Queen Elizabeth battles cancer secretly
According to the British newspaper, the author explains that the Queen had lived with a kind of myeloma, which is called bone marrow cancer. In the book, Gyles writes, “I had heard that the Queen had a form of myeloma — bone marrow cancer — which would explain her tiredness and weight loss and those ‘mobility issues’ we were often told about during the last year or so of her life.” The book also mentions how multiple myeloma is a disease that often affects the elderly.
Queen Elizabeth’s marriage with Prince Philip
The Daily Mail procured some content from the not yet published biography and it said that the monarch would refrain from seeing her husband, Prince Philip, for “weeks”. The book says that the rare meetings between the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh started when retired in 2017. Gyles Brandreth also claims in his book that the monarch accepted Prince Philip’s might seem queer but also acknowledged that he did not want “to be fussed over” and wished to “see out his days in his own way.”
The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh apparently developed a new affection for one another during the pandemic lockdown in 2020 and increased their time spent together in Scotland and at Windsor Castle, according to the book. The book also mentions that the Queen experienced “deep personal anguish” as a result of Prince Philip’s loss.
Queen Elizabeth’s relationship with Meghan Markle
The book also explores the Queen’s relationship with Meghan Markle. The Duchess of Sussex has been vocal about her warm relationship with the Queen but the upcoming book tells about what the Queen felt for the Duchess. The book’s content tells that Queen Elizabeth was “truly delighted” after hearing that her grandson Prince Harry revealed he would marry Meghan Markle.
The book says, “She liked Meghan and told lots of people so. And she did everything she could to make her future granddaughter-in-law feel welcome.”
Queen’s reaction to Harry and Meghan’s Oprah interview
The book talks about how Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stepped down from their royal roles and shifted to the US in 2018. They revealed all about their quitting royal affairs in an Oprah Winfrey interview. Markle’s mental health condition, their baby news, everything was covered in the interview. The book also revealed how the Queen reacted to this interview. In the book, Brandreth said, “I can tell you, because I know this, that the Queen was always more concerned for Harry’s well-being than about ‘this television nonsense’, meaning both the Oprah Winfrey interview – which caused so much controversy – and the lucrative deal the Sussexes made with Netflix.”
The book also suggests the Queen felt that Prince Harry was “a little over-in-love” with Markle. The book further claims that the monarch “was anxious that Harry should ‘find his feet’ in California and ‘find really useful things to do.'”
After the Queen’s death, Meghan Markle talked about the warm bond she had with the Queen and mentioned her as a “shining example” of female leadership. At the same time, Prince Harry in an emotional statement about his grandmother called her a “guiding compass” and praised her “unwavering grace and dignity.”
