Queen battled cancer in secret during final years, Prince Philip's friend claims in book
The cancer would have likely caused Her Majesty to suffer from constant bone pain in the last year of her life.
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The Queen secretly fought a particularly painful form of cancer in the last year of her life, a new book has claimed. An upcoming biography of Her Majesty written by a close friend of Prince Philip claimed that the Queen had a form of bone marrow cancer - the most common symptom of which is bone pain. The statements about her health struggle have been made in the upcoming biography by Gyles Brandreth, Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait.
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The Queen's death certificate, released in September, officially recorded her cause of death as "old age".
Mr Brandreth wrote in the biography, which is being serialised in the Daily Mail: "I had heard that the Queen had a form of myeloma — bone marrow cancer — which would explain her tiredness and weight loss and those ‘mobility issues’ we were often told about during the last year or so of her life.
"The most common symptom of myeloma is bone pain, especially in the pelvis and lower back, and multiple myeloma is a disease that often affects the elderly.
"Currently, there is no known cure, but treatment — including medicines to help regulate the immune system and drugs that help prevent the weakening of the bones — can reduce the severity of its symptoms and extend the patient’s survival by months or two to three years."
According to the book, however, Her Majesty remained incredibly stoic and hard working in her final years. In one heartbreaking detail, the Queen is said to have told a lady-in-waiting that keeping busy helped her to cope with Prince Philip's death.
She is also said to have avoided self-pity, commenting that the late Duke of Edinburgh would not have approved.
Mr Brandreth added about that the Queen knew that her time was limited but accepted the reality with "good grace".
However, she continued to push herself - even doing so to such an extent that she suffered from sudden low energy last autumn, with doctors calling on her to rest.
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As she did so, television helped to keep her spirits up. This even included Line of Duty, the book claims - although it adds that she occasionally struggled to keep up with its labyrinthine plot.
Further revelations within the book's pages include Her Majesty's swift response to the controversy surrounding "faovurite child" Prince Andrew and his relationship with pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
A senior courtier revealed that the Queen took a "firm grip" of matters.
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Prince Andrew has consistently and vehemently denied any wrongdoing.
It is also claimed the Queen then deliberately allowed herself to be photographed with the disgraced Duke the following day, to show her personal support.
She is said to have carefully listened to Prince Andrew's own account of his friendship with the paedophile financier, and gave the one-word response: "Intriguing."
Buckingham Palace declined to respond to a request for comment from Express.co.uk.
