New details have emerged regarding the death of Queen Elizabeth II, including the fact that she wrote two letters just before passing, one to Charles, and another to a non-Royal.
It’s been a little over two years since Queen Elizabeth II passed away at the age of 96 and new information suggests that she was very much aware that her death was imminent. The monarch passed peacefully in her sleep on Sept. 8th, 2022, marking the end of the longest-reigning monarch in the history of the U.K. Writing on the topic in his book, King Charles III New King, Royal expert Robert Hardman revealed that, after her death, a footman brought in a locked red box containing two sealed letters from the queen.
Who was the second letter for?
We already know that one of the letters was addressed to Charles. The fact that she had these letters prepared suggests the queen knew her death was near. You’d expect the second letter to be for a family member, perhaps one of her grandchildren, William or Harry. After all, Prince Harry supposedly had a good relationship with his grandmother.
But no, it was actually for a non-Royal, the queen’s private secretary, Sir Edward Young. Young has been working for the Royal Family for almost 20 years and was recently been made a permanent Lord in Waiting to Charles (so his actual title is Lord Edward Young now). This means that he can represent King Charles on important Royal occasions.
Born in 1966, Young began working for Barclays Bank after leaving school. The Tatler reports that he later became the bank’s Deputy Head of Corporate Public Relations before leaving to work for a number of political figures. Young began working for the Royal Family in 2004 as Queen Elizabeth’s assistant up until 2017 when he became her private secretary.
The private secretary has a very important role within the Royal household. He would have been responsible for supporting the queen in her duties and would have communicated between the Head of State and the government, as well as the armed forces and the church. You could say he was Queen Elizabeth’s mouthpiece. He would have also been the first to inform the Prime Minister of the U.K. and other world leaders about the monarch’s passing.
Do we know what the letter said?
All in all, Young performed this role for the queen for 18 years, so it makes sense that she would write him a letter before her passing. But you’re probably wondering what the contents of said letter contain. So am I, but in reality, it will probably never be revealed unless Young were to decide to make it public, which I don’t see happening. It was a private letter after all. Young retired from his role as private secretary after the King’s coronation in 2023.
