Queen Elizabeth II’s Final Moments Shared by Private Secretary

Queen Elizabeth II attends an audience at Windsor Castle on April 28, 2022, in Windsor, England.

On Sept. 8, 2022, Queen Elizabeth II died at age 96 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. New details have surfaced about the longest-reigning British monarch's final moments more than a year after her death—and it's all thanks to the Queen's private secretary.

A biography titled Charles III: New King, New Court by Robert Hardman includes notes from Queen Elizabeth's private secretary, Sir Edward Young, who was among those by her side when she died.

"Very peaceful. In her sleep. Slipped away. Old age," Young noted, per the Daily Mail, in a memo. "She wouldn't have been aware of anything. No pain."

The memo, which now lives in the Royal Archives, had not previously been known to the public.

On the morning of Queen Elizabeth's death, news spread of the monarch's rapidly declining health. Two of her children, King Charles III and Princess Anne, were able to see her at Balmoral before her death. However, other senior members of the British Royal family—including her sons, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, and her grandsons, Prince William and Prince Harry—arrived too late.

King Charles penned a touching tribute honoring his late mother one year after her passing.

"In marking the first anniversary of Her late Majesty’s death and my Accession, we recall with great affection her long life, devoted service and all she meant to so many of us," he said in a statement. "I am deeply grateful, too, for the love and support that has been shown to my wife [Queen Camilla] and myself during this year as we do our utmost to be of service to you all."

Next: Zara Tindall Gets Honest About the 'Hole' Left by Queen Elizabeth's Death