Royal Author Shares What Queen Camilla Quipped After Being Asked to "Help Out" Queen Elizabeth in Her Old Age

Gyles Brandreth shared an insight into the late Queen's final years.

Kristin Contino's avatar
By
published
in News
Queen Elizabeth and Queen Camilla riding in a carriage at Royal Ascot
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Despite suffering from mobility issues, Queen Elizabeth carried out her duties to the very end, meeting with the incoming Prime Minister, Liz Truss, just two days before her 2022 death at the age of 96. The late Queen turned to members of her family for support at times, but as Queen Camilla told author Gyles Brandreth, it wasn’t always “necessary.”

In the months following Prince Philip’s 2021 death, those around the late Queen worried about her mental state. Brandreth, a longtime friend of the Royal Family, noted in his book Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait that Queen Elizabeth had a “different” approach to mourning than her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria.

“There is no magic formula that will transform sorrow into happiness,” she said, “but being busy helps.” Part of keeping busy meant attending to royal duties, when possible, since Philip's death happened during the COVID-19 pandemic. This meant attending the October 2021 openings of Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Senedd, and King Charles and Queen Camilla came along for both trips.

Latest Videos From

Queen Camilla, King Charles and Queen Elizabeth on the balcony of Buckingham Palace

Queen Camilla, King Charles and Queen Elizabeth are pictured on the Buckingham Palace balcony during Trooping the Colour 2022.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Queen Camilla and Queen Elizabeth smiling at each other

Queen Camilla and Queen Elizabeth are pictured in 2019.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

But Camilla, then known as the Duchess of Cornwall, told Brandreth that their presence really wasn’t “required” due to the formidable Queen.

“‘We weren’t required,’” the Duchess said to me soon afterwards, laughing,” Brandreth wrote. “‘We were there to help out if necessary. It wasn’t necessary. The Queen did it all. She wanted to.” Camilla added, “She’s unstoppable.”

Queen Elizabeth put so much energy into staying busy after her husband's death that Brandreth said she pushed it a bit too far. “In that period of six months, the late Queen “did so much, so purposefully and with such a determination to not give way to any form of self-pity (which, she said, ‘My husband would certainly have not approved of’), that she probably did too much.”

However, no could have accused of her of wallowing. “Life goes on,” she said. “It has to.”

Kristin Contino
Kristin Contino
Senior Royal and Celebrity Editor

Kristin Contino is Marie Claire's Senior Royal and Celebrity editor. She's been covering royalty since 2018—including major moments such as the Platinum Jubilee, Queen Elizabeth II’s death and King Charles III's coronation—and places a particular focus on the British Royal Family's style and what it means.

Prior to working at Marie Claire, she wrote about celebrity and royal fashion at Page Six Style and covered royalty from around the world as chief reporter at Royal Central. Kristin has provided expert commentary for outlets including the BBC, Sky News, US Weekly, the Today Show and many others.

Kristin is also the published author of two novels, “The Legacy of Us” and “A House Full of Windsor.” She's passionate about travel, history, horses, and learning everything she can about her favorite city in the world, London.