London: Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away peacefully in her Scotland summer residence of Balmoral Castle three weeks ago, succumbed to old age, according to an extract of the late monarch’s death certificate released on Thursday.
The document, released by the National Records of Scotland, notes Britain’s longest-serving monarch died at 3.10 pm local time on September 8 due to “old age”.
The Queen’s daughter, Princess Anne, is named as the “informant” on the document as it would have been her who notified the local registrar of her mother’s death.
When paying tribute to her mother, the Princess Royal revealed that she was with the head of state in her last moments. Anne, who accompanied her mother’s coffin as it travelled from Balmoral to London via Edinburgh, said: “I was fortunate to share the last 24 hours of my dearest mother’s life.”
The Queen was laid to rest at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle in a private burial ceremony following a state funeral attended by around 100 presidents and heads of government from around the world including President Droupadi Murmu at a grand and sombre ceremony in Westminster Abbey on September 19.
The death certificate was released while hundreds queued at Windsor Castle in Berkshire as it reopened to the public for visits for the first time since the death of the late monarch earlier this month.
For the first time this week, visitors will be able to view the ledger stone inscribed with the name of the late monarch in the George VI Memorial Chapel at St. George’s Chapel, where she was buried beside her husband Prince Philip last week.
On September 19, Queen Elizabeth II was laid to rest in the George VI Memorial Chapel, an enclave commissioned by her within the castle’s St. George’s Chapel.
Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh’s coffin was then moved from the chapel’s Royal Vault to be placed in the same enclave, which also houses the coffins of the Queen’s parents, father George and mother Elizabeth.
Last week, Buckingham Palace released an image of the new chapel stone engraved with the Queen’s name, which replaces a black slab naming King George VI and Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, to include all four names.
The stone set into the floor now reads: “George VI 1895-1952” and “Elizabeth 1900-2002”, followed by a metal star of the Order of the Garter and then “Elizabeth II 1926-2022” and “Philip 1921-2021”.
Princess Margaret, the Queen’s sister who died in 2002, was cremated as per her wishes and her ashes were also moved to the George VI memorial chapel with her parents’ coffins after the death of the Queen Mother later the same year.
Members of the public will be able to visit the site from Thursday, as Windsor Castle reopens for visitors as the official residence of “His Majesty the King Charles III”.
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