The late Queen’s health was increasingly deteriorating, with the monarch making fewer and shorter appearances towards the end of her life. Despite her frail health, Elizabeth did greet the nation publicly one last time from the balcony of Buckingham Palace on June 5, 2022, during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations and even held audiences with Boris Johnson and Liz Truss two days before her death at Balmoral.

Now, those close to her have given fresh insight into how she behaved during her final days.

In his latest biography, titled The Elizabeth II, extracts of which have been serialised by the Daily Mail, author Robert Hardman cited people close to Elizabeth during her final days in Balmoral.

He wrote: “’She was so brave,’ said an official who saw her regularly over the summer. ‘You could tell she was having a lot of treatment from the bruising on her hands where the cannula had gone in. Her hands seemed permanently bruised.’

“On the eve of her departure, she held the last round of audiences and a Privy Council meeting. ‘We had a private chat at the end of it,’ said one of those present. ‘I felt a bit emotional when I left because, well, it just felt to me like a goodbye.

“She had some very clear messages about how she thought things would go in the future. Very clear, indeed!’”

The author claimed that the late Queen wanted all her great-grandchildren to come up to Balmoral at some point over that summer, even if the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were not able to make it.

A friend of the royals said: “She wanted to make sure that they all had a really happy memory of her,’ explained a friend of the family.”

Mr Hardman noted that the late Queen’s exact medical condition was never disclosed but added that those closest to her only said that she had a “number of thing” in the late summer of 2022.