Queen Elizabeth II worked until hours before her death, says biographer

Elizabeth signed important documents from her "red box" shortly before she passed away. The "red box" is a leather briefcase that British monarchs receive daily with documents that the monarch must review, sign or initial. After analyzing the documents, the queen returned this box to her secretary - the last one reached him after the death of Elizabeth II.

"That was her duty, and she understood that. And she liked that. She liked that part of the job. He didn't consider it an imposition. Obviously, later in life, the team tried to lighten the workload a little, but those were still things that only she could do. So, these red boxes kept arriving until the last week of her life", said Robert Hardman, author of the book "Elizabeth II: In Private. In Public. The Inside Story", in an interview with UOL;

In the last red box, in addition to the documents, the queen included a letter to her secretary and a letter to the then Prince Charles. "[The secretary] opened the box without really knowing what to expect. There was a letter to him, a letter to the then Prince Charles and some paperwork he had sent to her a few days earlier with the nominations for the Order of Merit. The Queen needed to decide who the new members would be, so she underlined the names and made some notes," said Hardman.

"And there she was: even on her deathbed, the Queen continued to analyze documents in her inbox - something that, I imagine, most people would not do; tending to emails and checking her inbox while on the verge of death," said Robert Hardman.

The queen had a good relationship with Donald Trump, president of the United States and a declared fan of the royal family. "Trump clearly adored the queen. He had a lot of respect for her. Their first meeting in 2018 was supposed to last just 15 minutes and it lasted almost an hour. They got along very well. People who worked with her told me that when I was writing the book," said the author.

"The Queen liked what she called 'fun people'. She didn't like silent, nervous, scared politicians. She liked people with personality," said Robert Hardman.

In the book, Hardman says the queen had an "ordinary" taste in food, which she consumed "carefully". "The queen enjoyed simple cuisine, but prepared to the highest standard of excellence, while [Prince Philip] had a more adventurous palate. [...] However, both also demonstrated unshakable self-control. This was a habit they passed on to all their children; they all eat in moderation, and [Anne and Andrew] also do not consume alcoholic beverages", writes Hardman in the work.

"She was quite conservative when it came to food. She was part of a wartime generation that grew up on very simple food. She liked it that way," said Robert Hardman.

The monarch avoided, for example, eating "complicated" foods, such as spaghetti, at official events. "When you're from the royal family, everyone is looking at you. You and I might accidentally spill our drink or try a new cocktail. You can't do that when 200 people are staring at you, because it could go wrong. [...] She didn't like spicy food, and she didn't particularly like foods that were difficult to eat. That's why she never ate spaghetti, because it was too complicated. It's much easier to eat simple food, like fish, potatoes, vegetables and things like that," he said.

To avoid these "funks", the queen's team took certain precautions when serving her. For example, in the drink, two ice cubes were placed on top of the lemon slice, to "hold" the fruit in the glass.

Elizabeth II was "pragmatic" and didn't have much interest in food, other than eating very quickly. "I remember going to a state banquet at Buckingham Palace a few years ago. I was called as a guest, and I was enjoying my dinner. Suddenly I realized that the footman was taking all the dishes away. I had to eat quickly, because the Queen had already finished eating. As soon as the Queen had finished, everyone had to finish," the author recalled.

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