{"id":185695,"date":"2026-04-04T21:22:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T21:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/185695\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T21:22:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T21:22:00","slug":"queen-elizabeth-prince-philip-separated-before-his-death-says-biographer-she-was-absolutely-furious","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/185695\/","title":{"rendered":"Queen Elizabeth & Prince Philip ‘Separated’ Before His Death, Says Biographer: ‘She Was Absolutely Furious’"},"content":{"rendered":"

A royal biographer is shedding light on Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip\u2019s relationship in their final years before Philip\u2019s 2021 death<\/a>, claiming, \u201cIn a sense, they had separated.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his upcoming biography, Queen Elizabeth II: A Personal History<\/a>, royal writer Hugo Vickers writes that the Queen was not with her husband of 73 years when he passed away on April 9, 2021, because they had been living apart for several years.<\/p>\n

More from SheKnows<\/p>\n

Philip stepped back from royal duties in 2017 amid his failing health and relocated to Norfolk to a royal estate, while the Queen continued her public duties. \u201cThe Queen let the Duke do exactly as he pleased. He was at his happiest at Wood Farm on the Sandringham estate,\u201d Vickers wrote, via People<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Duke of Edinburgh moved to Wood Farm alone. However, Vickers claims that his longtime friend and confidante, Penny Mountbatten, also known as Penelope Knatchbull, Countess Mountbatten of Burma, frequently joined him.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe enjoyed his carriage-driving, read voraciously and painted a little,\u201d Vickers wrote. \u201cFrom time to time, the Queen went up by train to Norfolk to stay the weekend. Once again, she gave him a loose rein. In a sense, they had separated.\u201d<\/p>\n

RELATED: Royal Expert Says Princesses Beatrice & Eugenie\u2019s Fall From Grace Goes Beyond Their Father: \u2018They\u2019re Deeply\u00a0Involved\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

The Queen and Philip did reunite in his final months when the monarch relocated from Buckingham Palace to Windsor Castle<\/a> amid COVID-19 lockdowns and summoned her husband to join her. They were \u201cmoved into four rooms in the castle, looked after by a \u2018skeleton\u2019 staff, 22 in total,\u201d Vickers wrote. \u201cThey entered a strict isolation, jokingly nicknamed HMS Bubble, by the Master of the Household, Tony Johnstone-Burt. Nobody was allowed to enter the Upper Ward of the castle, and there were no ladies-in-waiting in attendance.\u201d<\/p>\n

The night before his death, the biographer claimed 99-year-old Philip \u201cgave his nurses the slip, shuffled along the corridor on his Zimmer frame, helped himself to a beer and drank it in the Oak Room.<\/p>\n

The Queen, Vickers claimed, did not see Philip before his death. \u201cThe following morning, he got up, had a bath, said he did not feel well and quietly slipped away,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201c[The Queen] took the line, I was told, that she was \u2018absolutely furious that, as so often in life, he left without saying goodbye,’\u201d Vickers wrote, noting that throughout their marriage Philip was known for quietly leaving home without saying goodbye.<\/p>\n

Due to COVID restrictions, Philip\u2019s funeral was restricted to just 30 mourners and the Queen famously sat alone in the church<\/a>, wearing a mask. \u201cNothing would have delighted the Duke more than having such a pared-down farewell,\u201d Vickers wrote.<\/p>\n

RELATED: Prince William\u2019s Growing Power Could Be Behind This \u2018Very Public\u2019 Royal Family\u00a0Distancing<\/a><\/p>\n

Best of SheKnows<\/p>\n

Sign up for SheKnows’ Newsletter<\/a>. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A royal biographer is shedding light on Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip\u2019s relationship in their final years…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":185696,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[74662,9,24,63,3994,1312,122,124,123,39182],"class_list":{"0":"post-185695","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-queens","8":"tag-hugo-vickers","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-city","11":"tag-nyc","12":"tag-prince-philip","13":"tag-queen-elizabeth-ii","14":"tag-queens","15":"tag-queens-headlines","16":"tag-queens-news","17":"tag-sheknows"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=185695"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185695\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/185696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=185695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=185695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=185695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}