The royal family has kept quiet about a senior member’s cancer struggles as surprising new details emerged.
One author, Hugo Vickers, spoke about the royal’s health issues which had not been disclosed by the company at the time of his death.
The royal commentator wrote that Queen Elizabeth II was informed that Prince Philip had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer eight years before his death.
At the age of 91, the Duke of Edinburgh’s medical team informed the royal family of his inoperable form of the disease in June 2013.
After the diagnosis, “there was an opinion that [Philip] will perhaps not be seen in public again”, but “the duke has outwitted the pessimists”, explained Hugo, according to The times.
The royal expert has opened up about the final days of Prince Philip’s life, saying there were “moments of tranquility”.
“On the last night of his life, he ditched his nurses, shuffled down the hall on his Zimmer frame, poured himself a beer, and drank it in the Oak Room,” he wrote.
Hugo added: “The next morning he got up, took a bath, said he didn’t feel well and quietly walked away. At this point he had been living with pancreatic cancer for almost eight years, much longer than the typical survival time after diagnosis.”
It is important to mention that the Queen was not with her husband at the time of his death.
For those who don’t know, Prince Philip died at Windsor Castle in 2021, just before his 100th birthday.
According to the death certificate, the cause of his death was listed as “old age”, implying that the Palace wanted to keep it a secret.
Cancer shock returned to the royal family after King Charles and Princess Kate were diagnosed with the disease in 2024.
Catherine is in remission from cancer after completing preventive chemotherapy. While the monarch is still undergoing treatment for cancer.
