Queen Elizabeth II would go “weeks” without seeing her husband Prince Philip, a new book titled “Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait” claims.
The sparse meetings began when the Duke of Edinburgh retired in 2017, according to an excerpt from the forthcoming biography obtained by the Daily Mail on Friday.
However, author Gyles Brandreth also reportedly notes that the couple kept in touch during that time by speaking “regularly” on the phone.
According to the book, Her Majesty understood that her and her husband’s arrangement might seem strange to some, but reportedly knew Philip didn’t want to “make a fuss” and “spend his days his own way.”
Five years after his retirement, the Queen’s longtime wife passed away in April 2021.
Brandreth’s book also reportedly reveals that Queen Elizabeth II was determined to be by Philip’s side when he passed, as they had found a new appreciation for each other during the 2020 pandemic lockdown.
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the couple – who had been married for 73 years – were reportedly spending more time together in Scotland and at Windsor Castle.
After Philip died, according to the excerpt, the Queen had “intense personal grief”, but she felt it was her “Christian duty” to carry on as best she could – despite her own ill health.
Brandreth notes in the book that watching television helped lighten the royal mood, particularly dramas such as the British police series ‘Line of Duty’.
The Queen reportedly refused to slow down until last autumn when she suffered from sudden low energy and was instructed by doctors to slow down, the broadcaster added.
“My husband would certainly not have approved,” Her Majesty is said to have said, according to Brandreth.
The Queen’s last public appearance was at the finale of her Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June.
She joined her son King Charles III and his wife, Camilla Parker Bowles, along with grandson Prince William, his wife, Kate Middleton, and their three children: Prince George, 9, Princess Charlotte, 7, and Prince Louis, 4.
Her Royal Highness died in September at the age of 96 after a reign of 70 years.
