Prince Philip, the late Duke of Edinburgh, spent his final night quietly slipping away at the age of 99, according to his biographer Hugo Vickers.
Vickers’ new book, “Queen Elizabeth II,” reveals these revelations and discusses them on HELLO! Magazine’s “A Right Royal Podcast.”
Vickers described the duke’s final evening, saying, “The night before he died, he went along on his Zimmer frame to the Oak Room, which was that room above the entrance out of which the Queen’s car came out for the funeral, and he was having a beer all by himself.”
The biographer elaborated on Philip’s independent nature, noting, “He gave his nurses the slip. He did not want to live to be 100, and he just slipped away. He got up, I think he had a bath and didn’t feel well and lay down and that was it.”
Philip reportedly spent his final years largely apart from Queen Elizabeth II, whom he had been married to for 73 years. Vickers claimed that in the years leading up to his death in 2021, the couple “in a sense, had separated.”
A source familiar with the royal household told Vickers that Philip took a step back from official duties in 2017 due to health concerns, including cancer, and spent much of his time at Wood Farm on the Sandringham estate.
The Queen, meanwhile, continued her public engagements and royal responsibilities. “The Queen let the Duke do exactly as he pleased. He was at his happiest at Wood Farm on the Sandringham estate,” Vickers wrote via People.
Reflecting on past birthdays, Vickers said, “He did go to church for his 80th and 90th birthdays and for his 90th birthday, his family came from all over the world, from Canada, from Germany… in this case, I think there were about 120 of them.” He added that Philip “absolutely did not want to be celebrated,” noting that little would have been planned had he reached 100.
The Duke’s withdrawal is said to have created friction. According to Style Caster, the Duke’s decision to quietly withdraw and focus on his own life has made [the Queen] unhappy. It wasn’t just about duties—it was about him removing himself from the daily life they had built together.
Despite this distance, Philip remained involved in family matters and attended select royal events when necessary.
Vickers also noted that Philip’s retreat allowed him to maintain independence while managing declining health. “He wasn’t shirking responsibility—he was living on his terms,” he said.
He added that Queen Elizabeth II, accustomed to partnership and shared decision-making, was emotionally affected by Philip’s withdrawal. “The distress caused by this dynamic persisted until Philip’s death in April 2021,” the outlet reported.
Philip’s life, marked by a sense of obligation, self-sufficiency, and years under the public eye, came to a close two months before his hundredth birthday.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.enstarz.com ’
