So now we know why the Queen died

My 4yo granddaughter informed her 12yo American cousin that the queen had ‘died of death’. She’s not wrong!

My medic dd has worked a lot with geriatrics and she says elderly people are very prone to dying unexpectedly. She’s had patients ready for discharge, then half an hour later, they’ve simply gone, quietly, with no fuss.

Older people are also good at not dying. She attended a crash call to an elderly lady, where they managed to revive her. Dd went off to attend to other patients, not really expecting to see the first lady again. Going through the unit at the end of her shift, dd was astounded to see the ‘crash’ patient sitting up in bed with a cup of tea and doing a book of Sudoku!

Old age …..and a broken heart. Her Majesty when into deep decline when her darling Philip passed away.

The Queen was old, she was very well cared for and had been throughout her life, and it was absolutely clear in all her recent years' appearances that she was losing height, beginning to bend, eventually need a walking stick, and finally bruise very badly like most people over the age of 90. Her body wore out as bodies do. As for people being interested, whilst I have no interest in her cause of death or the precise timings, the millions who mourn her do and I suppose are due this explanation - it's surely a comforting one. What I find so distasteful, however, is that her last days were taken up with having to meet both BJ and Liz Truss, neither of whom are worth even a second of anybody's precious time and life.

I have heard that she had bone cancer. My Mum did too, she died the day after they gave her the diagnosis - she was up and doing her hair that morning but the pain became too much for her so she lay down and died that evening. Luckily I was with her and she died peacefully. I hope the queen did too. May she RIP.

“Old age” is a perfectly normal definition and reason for death. We can’t go on forever, and she obviously didn’t have a covid infection.

HMTQ had been under the care of the same physician for years, this means that her health status was known.

I don’t find it patronising at all and like a pp I find it comforting.

Old age is what I think everyone would like to see on their death cert iykwim.

I would have loved it if my sister had had it on hers.
My dad had it on his.

My MIL died at 103 and GP put 'old age' but was told that was not acceptable and had to change it. We were amazed. I can't remember what the GP changed it to. This was about five years ago.

@GoldenaAge - I wholeheartedly agree with you regarding the last few days of her life, how dare they wheel her out for a photo op when she was obviously old and frail. I’m not a royalist but I am a humanist!

Beyond idle curiosity why should any of us need to know the intricacies of what is actually on Our late Queens death certificate. Enough to know she died and hopefully peacefully. RIP

People do die of broken hearts don’t they?

I suppose all the nasty business with Harry and Andrew too didn’t help without her Phillip there to cheer her up. ?

Her Majesty went into deep decline when her darling Philip passed away

Not true. You make her sound like Queen Victoria. Although very sad I’m sure, the Queen still ‘carried on carrying on’, with or without Philip by her side. She was ageing and getting frailer, at 95 what else really.

‘Stoic’ is the word that sums her up, and the same word applies to her daughter.

At the age of 99 I have so many things wrong with me that when I die it will be of old age.
My grandfathers certificate said ‘senile decay’ but he didn’t want to live after grandmother died.

Don't understand what the fuss is about. At her age, it was probable that she would die within the next few years. As there is no suggestion of foul play, why do we need to know any more?

kiligran

Old age …..and a broken heart. Her Majesty when into deep decline when her darling Philip passed away.

Deep decline? I think that’s overstating it somewhat. She became more frail, as you would expect at her age and having lost her husband of many years, but didn’t go into ‘deep decline’.

she was old though

Let her rest in peace, 96 is a great age. Certainly no need for a postmortem!

As has already been said old age is not a medical condition. It does however make you less likely to recover from a medical condition. A senior civil service source has let it be known privately that the Queen suffered a massive stroke the night before she died. It is of course all academic to a grieving family and grieving nation.

I worked for years as a night care assistant on geriatric wards, nursing homes and home care. There are clear signs when a very elderly person’s death is approaching within hours, whether two hours or twenty. First sign is a very deep sleep from which they cannot be roused. Perhaps that morning the Queen didn’t wake for breakfast. Her doctor would have been quite certain she would die within hours.

The limbs and extremities cool and can take on a blueish tinge, feeling increasingly cold to touch. Breathing slows and becomes shallow and erratic, sometimes with very long pauses which make you think they’ve died, then they take another breath and this can go on for some hours. As they stop swallowing, saliva accumulating in the throat can cause a bubbly, rattly sound - it’s often called the “death rattle”. There doesn’t have to be a specific cause like a stroke or heart attack. The body has simply slowed right down and then the heart finally stops. It’s gentle and peaceful, and to die in her favourite place without the wretchedness of repeated hospital stays and the media circus camping outside for photos, it was surely the best possible way to go. I feel for the lady’s maid and personal staff who most likely were first to know what was happening. It was a lucky coincidence that Princess Anne had stayed at Balmoral the previous night and Charles was elsewhere in Scotland.

RIP Ma’am.

I think you are all making a mystery where none exists.

The medical practioner who fills in the particulars on a death certificate is obliged to state the immediate cause of death and may if he deems it necessary name other medical conditions the deceased had.

Old age may seem a vague term, but it is not more vague than "cardiac arrest" or "respiratory failure" after all.

No registrar I have ever heard of would accept a death certificate if he (she) felt that the details were odd.

If anything looked odd, normal practice anywhere in Scotland would be to refuse to register the death until the medical practioner had been contacted and had clarified the details. If a satisfactory answer was not obtained (satisfactory to the registrar, that is) the matter would be referred to the procurator fiscal of the area, who would look into it and decide whether

a) the death could be registered allowing funeral arrangements to start,
b) a post-mortem was called for,
c) the death should be regarded as suspicious and referred by the fiscal to the police.
d) In that case the police surgeon would then view the body and if not satisfied that the death was due to natural causes and consistent with the wording of the death certificate, a hearing would be scheduled the following morning in the local Sherrif court

I think we can take it as read that when the deceased was Her Majesty the Queen both the local registrar and the procurator fiscal were on their toes and that neither would have hestitated to inform Princess Anne, who I gather registered the death, if they had felt anything was amiss.

GranGlo

My MIL died at 103 and GP put 'old age' but was told that was not acceptable and had to change it. We were amazed. I can't remember what the GP changed it to. This was about five years ago.

Do you live in England or in Scotland?

The two countries have different laws, you know.

Judging by the comments on this page many of you have not taken into account that that might well explain the wording of the death certificate.

Can’t we just let the woman rest in peace? I don’t think it’s any of our business, she was 96 and frail as has been pointed out, there’s nothing to be suspicious about. Enough is enough surely, let the dead rest and worry about the living.

Hope this isn't the start of another conspiracy theory. Bad enough that the Royal Family have to mourn publicly, they should all be left in peace now. God rest her soul. Many thanks for your service Ma'am and God Save the King.

GoldenAge I believe the meeting with Boris Johnson was because Her Majesty asked for it. I wonder what she said to him? Perhaps she had been storing up her opinion and wanted this last chance to have her say!

My 92 year old mother’s death certificate said old age, she wasn’t really ill just didn’t wake up one morning

I understand that outgoing Prime Ministers have to see the monarch to resign and incoming ones have to see the monarch to be formally asked to form a government.

If you (general) want to have a 96 year old monarch who is still head of state, then these are the thing that they have to do. Nobody asked for it or any such thing. Comes with the job.

Well said, Volver. Appalling, judgemental, totally unsubstantiated and hurtful comment from a position of total ignorance as regards the circumstances.