So now we know why the Queen died

We die of old age. If we are lucky.

This 100%. In the end we all die because our heart stops beating and oxygen fails to reach the lungs and brain. The heart stopping can be for a variety of reasons but surely wear and tear ie worn out, is enough and that is caused by old age.

Had family in the funeral business years ago. Dying on the toilet happens more often than most would suspect. Fortunately for the vast majority who end this way it doesn't get publicised. I don't know the veracity of the Elvis story, but of course it is widely quoted, so yes 'known'.

I don't believe it was old age. You don't die of mobility problems and the family would not have been summoned to her bedside in haste. But it's none of my business and if it comforts the family or anyone else, so be it.

I think we’re reluctant to accept “old age” as a cause of death because we look at ourselves and think “I’m doing all right. Nothing life threatening wrong with me at the moment so I won’t die yet”.

The truth is, when you get to old age, you can die between ne moment and the next. Walking down the street, asleep in your bed, or like my father, drinking your coffee.

The body just says, it’s time.

It's not uncommon for this to be put on a death certificate. My mother died three weeks into the first pandemic lockdown in 2020. Her death certificate said she died of old age. Well, she was 95. It seemed reasonable.
I found it very comforting, actually, to feel that she'd just turned up her toes. It's certainly what it felt like as I sat by her side.

My Grandad died in a hospice after a pancreatic cancer diagnosis, on his death cert it listed that then Pneumonia, heart failire, ascities etc etc, my Mother died in the same hospice 7 years later of primary peritoneal cancer, her death certificate simply stated that, even though in fact she had severe ascities, complete bowel blockage etc, i actually preferred the single title as a sort of full stop and a complete blame on cancer.
I assume the RF will also prefer just the single cause.

I do wonder if any Dr has been brave or witty enough to simply put ‘stopped breathing’ ha!
Happy Saturday everyone x

My grandmother died aged nearly 93 and her death certificate stated 'old age'
The doctor verbally stated her body had simply had enough.

it is the royal family, do you really think they will ever tell their subjects the truth?

red1

it is the royal family, do you really think they will ever tell their subjects the truth?

She was 96 and obviously very frail!

What on earth do you think the “truth” might be???

My mother died aged 96 . She was in age related heart failure and her death certificate stated death due to“old age and heart failure” My DH aged 73 death certificate had numerous problems noted which I thought strange as he died of pancreatic and liver cancer. I wonder if it is required to note everything that is on the medical records .

Casdon

Why do you care though Fleurpepper, it makes no difference to anything? .

Exactly!

Not sure why it matters and in fact we still don’t
it just said old age!! Usually it states a organ failure or heart failure etc
Northing was given away if you think about it.
Quite rightly too, it’s not our business..

Lady Colin Campbell claims the Queen died from bone cancer.. she put that out on her social media channels around 90 minutes before the official announcement that the Queen had died.

My granny who died in 1963 aged 96 died of 'senile decay' according to her death certificate.

I'm afraid I do think it is our business. The Royal Family are public people - that is why they have incredibly privileged and affluent lives, a great proportion of which is paid for by the taxpayer. And people are interested in death as they are in birth - for instance a baby's weight is usually reported, even though it's largely irrelevant. I think we've probably been told lies about this, as so many other things, and I wonder if she actually died in the morning. But I don't really care - may she rest in peace.

Witzend

I know of two women in their 90s who hadn’t been at all ill, who just died in their sleep, so I dare say those were cases of ‘old age’.
A brilliant way to go, IMO, albeit a nasty shock for the relatives who wondered why they weren’t answering the phone/door, and found them.

Pittcity, my mother died at 97, with advanced dementia. IIRC the death certificate said Alz./old age.

I think 'a nasty shock' for relatives who leave parents living alone in their nineties is well deserved wages of their neglect. And the smell of their decomposition will hopefully be stronger in their nostrils forevermore for every single day they left them living so vulnerably alone. People die of neglect. No one old and vulnerable who has family should live entirely alone. Cue the self-righteous selfish abandoners...

I think there was an underlying cause because the series of "mobility" problems just made me suspicious. However, as it is none of my business, it doesn't really bother me what was put on the death certificate.

I am wondering if the Queen had a heart problem which caused swollen feet and ankle which could affect mobility? I know someone whose mum is 93 who has been sent to hospital by her care home with swollen legs and is reaching end of life with various failings. With the best doctors the Queen would have had top treatment.

Apparently old age on its own can’t be given as sole cause of death unless the person is over 80 and has been in the same doctor’s care, which would apply to the Queen. Not much point in a pm at that age.

red1

it is the royal family, do you really think they will ever tell their subjects the truth?

Oh come on! She was 96 and widowed. Why on earth should she NOT die of old age?
You can unpick and describe the whole wretched process, the loss of speech, the organ failure, the heart failure, the loss of consciousness, the laboured breathing, the throat filling with foam etc... if you really want to, but would it help? Surely ultimately all bodies stop working one day.
The best thing about her death certificate, on the other hand, is in the box for "occupation": "Her Majesty the Queen". (though I'm a tiny bit disappointed the family didn't go for the single word "Monarch". )

GrammyGrammy

Witzend

I know of two women in their 90s who hadn’t been at all ill, who just died in their sleep, so I dare say those were cases of ‘old age’.
A brilliant way to go, IMO, albeit a nasty shock for the relatives who wondered why they weren’t answering the phone/door, and found them.

Pittcity, my mother died at 97, with advanced dementia. IIRC the death certificate said Alz./old age.

I think 'a nasty shock' for relatives who leave parents living alone in their nineties is well deserved wages of their neglect. And the smell of their decomposition will hopefully be stronger in their nostrils forevermore for every single day they left them living so vulnerably alone. People die of neglect. No one old and vulnerable who has family should live entirely alone. Cue the self-righteous selfish abandoners...

That'll be me you so callously call "self-righteous abandoners".

Me who lives 120 miles from where my dad lives. Me, who has no brothers or sisters. Me, who decided to give up my own life to rent a flat near my DF. Me, who couldn't handle his issues on my own. Me, who couldn't get any support at all from Social Services until the Police got involved and issued a Vulnerable Person notice.

Your comments are unfair and come from a position of no knowledge whatsoever of how people live.

Elvis died of a ruptured aortic aneurysm. A condition that should be more understood and scans made more available. eg men (only) can have scans for them at 65. Whether or not he was on the loo eating a beefburger is irrelevant and disrespectful, that didn't cause his death. Just nasty media gossiping.

My mother died age 93 and her death certificate stated Old Age which I accepted as it seemed reasonable.

GrammyGrammy

Witzend

I know of two women in their 90s who hadn’t been at all ill, who just died in their sleep, so I dare say those were cases of ‘old age’.
A brilliant way to go, IMO, albeit a nasty shock for the relatives who wondered why they weren’t answering the phone/door, and found them.

Pittcity, my mother died at 97, with advanced dementia. IIRC the death certificate said Alz./old age.

I think 'a nasty shock' for relatives who leave parents living alone in their nineties is well deserved wages of their neglect. And the smell of their decomposition will hopefully be stronger in their nostrils forevermore for every single day they left them living so vulnerably alone. People die of neglect. No one old and vulnerable who has family should live entirely alone. Cue the self-righteous selfish abandoners...

Tell that to my 97 year old MIL who is determined to die in her own bed and 'not be a burden' to anyone.

One of her children visits every day (which works because we all live near enough to do so), but she won't entertain the idea of moving out of the house where she has lived since she got married. If she dies in her sleep, which is the way many of us would wish to go, it would not be the wages of anyone's neglect, but her own choice, which is hers to make - just because people are old does not mean that others get to make those decisions for them.

Not our business really, but even so we were given a look at the death certificate.

has been in the same doctor’s care,
My MiL could say that she had, but with all the different doctors I’ve seen in our practice, looks like I’m doomed to have a PM even if I die over 80.

I think 'a nasty shock' for relatives who leave parents living alone in their nineties is well deserved wages of their neglect. And the smell of their decomposition will hopefully be stronger in their nostrils forevermore for every single day they left them living so vulnerably alone. People die of neglect. No one old and vulnerable who has family should live entirely alone. Cue the self-righteous selfish abandoners...

What an absolutely horrible thing to say GrammyGrammy. The family might have been on holiday with carers provided by an agency who couldn't get in. The family could have pleaded with their family to accept help from them but found their relative intransigent, which happens often. There are a 101 reasons where things might have gone wrong without any negligence from a family.

Do we really know, and frankly, why would we want to? No post mortem, as with many of those who pass on at an advanced age. Having spent her life in the spotlight, and with her funeral a massive, media event, perhaps she deserves just a little privacy at the very end as regards her cause of death, and a suitably vague annotation delivers that. R.I.P. Your Majesty.