The Royal Family kept quiet about a senior member’s cancer battle as new, surprising details emerged.
One writer, Hugo Vickers, spoke of the royal figure’s health scare, which was not disclosed by the company at the time of his death.
The royal commentator wrote that Queen Elizabeth II had been informed that Prince Philip had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer eight years before his death.
Aged 91, the Duke of Edinburgh’s medical team shared with the royals about his inoperable form of the disease in June 2013.
After the diagnosis, there was a perception that [Philip] may not be seen in public again”, but “the duke outwitted the pessimists,” said Hugo, who per The Times.
The royal expert opened up about Prince Philip’s final days of life, saying there were “moments of calm”.
“On the last night of his life, he dismissed his nurses, shuffled along the corridor on his Zimmer frame, grabbed a beer and drank it in the Oak Room,” he wrote.
Hugo added: “The following morning he got up, took a shower, said he didn’t feel well and quietly slipped away. By this time he had been living with pancreatic cancer for almost eight years – far longer than the usual survival time from diagnosis.”
It is important to mention that the Queen was not with her husband when he died.
For the uninitiated, Prince Philip died at Windsor Castle in 2021 just before his 100th birthday.
According to the death certificate, his cause of death was listed as “old age”, suggesting the palace wanted to keep it a secret.
The 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 her preventive chemotherapy. Whereas the monarch is still undergoing cancer treatment.
