Thursday 29 September 2022 11:23 PM The Queen died at 3:10pm. So, why did it take more than three hours to tell ... trends now
The Queen died at Balmoral of ‘old age’, it was revealed yesterday – the first time a monarch’s death certificate is believed to have been made public.
But the document also raises intriguing questions after details on it confirmed that Prince Harry was not informed of his grandmother’s death for more than three hours.
Only her two eldest children – King Charles and his sister, Princess Anne – were with their mother when she died at 3.10pm on September 8. Prince Edward and his wife, Sophie, as well as Prince Andrew and Prince William, were all on a plane heading for Scotland at the time and are believed to have been informed mid-air.
Prince Harry, meanwhile, had not even made it to an airport amid apparent confusion over whether he should travel up to Aberdeenshire with his wife Meghan. He finally got a private jet from Luton at 5.35pm, landing at Aberdeen at 6.47pm.
The Queen died at Balmoral of ‘old age’, it was revealed yesterday – the first time a monarch’s death certificate is believed to have been made public
It has already been confirmed by palace sources that his father only managed to contact his son mid-air at 6.25pm – just five minutes before the news the world had been dreading was officially announced.
Charles had insisted all afternoon on telling his youngest son personally before any official statement was released by Buckingham Palace.
He had already rung both Harry and his brother, William, earlier in the day to tell them to get up to Scotland as quickly as possible because their grandmother was rapidly fading. He then returned to the Queen’s bedside.
But that leaves a crucial two hours and 25 minutes between the Queen dying and Harry taking to the air, when it appears there was no communication between the prince and his family.
In contrast, the Prime Minister, Liz Truss, was informed at 4.30pm. Palace officials declined to comment last night, while other royal sources were unable to explain the discrepancy. But insiders stressed that the old-fashioned King does not have a mobile phone and his diary is such that calls between himself and his family normally have to be ‘scheduled in’.
Family members have to resort to calling staff or even one of his police bodyguards to try to get an urgent message to him.
Others said it was likely the King wanted to tell his son personally, but with the clock ticking for the release of an official announcement, simply ran out of time.
But that leaves a crucial two hours and 25 minutes between the Queen dying and Harry taking to the air, when it appears there was no communication between the prince and his family. Pictured: Prince Harry arriving at Balmoral shortly after Queen Elizabeth passed away
Sources with intimate knowledge of Operation London Bridge – the plan to manage the aftermath of Queen’s death – also stressed that as well as the dealing with the inevitable grief of the situation, there would have been a mass of administration to cope with.
‘I’m sure, as with everything, there is a meticulous plan on paper but then the
