The Queen was “prepared” and “had the wherewithal” to deal with the death of Prince Philip, a royal author has claimed.
The Duke of Edinburgh, who was married to Her Majesty for 73 years, died in April last year at the age of 99.
According to a royal expert, the Queen knew Philip was “getting old and weak”.
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Robert Hardman, author of Queen of our Times: The Life of Elizabeth II, told OK!: “The Queen has always been good in a crisis. She doesn’t panic, she doesn’t collapse. She’s a pragmatist.
Read more: The Queen ‘hopes to attend’ Prince Philip’s memorial as Palace issues update
“She’d been worried about him for a long time, but one of the upsides of lockdown is that they were together a lot more than they would have been.”
He added: “She relied on him a lot, but he was getting old and weak and she knew that. She was prepared, and had the wherewithal to deal with his death.”
Next week, the Queen is expected to attend a memorial service for Philip.
The service will take place at Westminster Abbey on March 29.
Buckingham Palace released details of the service today and confirmed members of the Royal Family will be in attendance.
A royal aide said the Queen “still hopes to attend” the service after struggling with mobility issues recently.
Earlier this month, sources claimed palace aides had warned the monarch to ‘pace herself’ ahead of the memorial service.
Read more: The Queen beefs up security at Balmoral as she ‘plans to spend more time in Scotland’
An insider told The Sun: “You can’t say she will definitely be at the service but there’s an element of pacing herself to make it happen.”
Despite her apparent mobility issues, sources claimed that the Queen is still “as committed to her duties of state as ever”.
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