The last entry made by Queen Elizabeth II in her diary has been revealed by Robert Hardman, a British author and documentary filmmaker best known for his work on the British royal family.
In the updated version of his book Charles III: New King, New Court: The Inside Story, released on November 7, Hardman discloses that the late British monarch recorded her final diary entry just two days before her passing at age 96 on September 8, 2022.
On September 6, while at her beloved Balmoral Castle in Scotland, her late Majesty—who fastidiously maintained a diary throughout her record-breaking 70-year reign—sat down to pen the day’s events, as she always did, according to Tatler. “It is unsurprising that the monarch was diligent in her documentation, even as illness made her increasingly frail,” the outlet reported.
The journal entry was uncomplicated: “Edward came to see me,” Hardman wrote, referring to Sir Edward Young, the Queen’s private secretary, who was helping her make arrangements for the swearing-in of then-newly elected U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss’s ministers. Appointing Truss on September 6 proved to be the Queen’s final public engagement after a lifetime of public service.
Queen Elizabeth’s diary was not introspective but rather a log of events that transpired throughout her busy days, likely to help her keep a record of what happened on any given day and possibly serve as an archive for historians in the future. “I have no time to record conversations, only events,” Queen Elizabeth once famously told diarist Kenneth Rose. Hardman, per The Telegraph, described her last entry as “factual and practical” as ever.
People reports that a former member of the royal household told The Sun in 2019 that Queen Elizabeth wrote in her diary with a fountain pen using black ink, always at her desk rather than in her bed or elsewhere. The diaries were leather-bound, each marked with her cipher and numbered with a Roman numeral. Writing in her diary was the last act of the Queen’s day, no matter how weary she may have been, the former member of the royal household said.
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King Charles, the current British monarch, and Queen Elizabeth’s son, also keeps a journal that, like his mother’s, is more factual than narrative, though it was once more emotionally expressive.
King Charles reportedly scribbles down his recollections and reflections at the end of every day.
