Queen's death: Cause and time of death revealed as certificate published

The Queen’s cause and time of death have been revealed following the publication of her death certificate.

The former monarch’s cause of death was listed as ‘old age’ on the official document.

The certificate, published by National Records of Scotland on Thursday, records the Queen died at 3:10pm on September 8 at Balmoral Castle in Ballater.

Coffin bearers carry the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II into St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle, Berkshire. Picture: PA

The document is signed by the Princess Royal.

Her death had been publicly announced by Buckingham Palace soon after 6pm on the same day.

Douglas James Allan Glass is noted as the certifying registered medical practitioner.

An extract from the Queen's death certificate. Picture: National Records of Scotland

When paying tribute to her mother the Queen, the Princess Royal revealed she was with the head of state in her last moments.

Anne, who accompanied her mother’s coffin as it travelled from Balmoral to London, via Edinburgh, said: “I was fortunate to share the last 24 hours of my dearest mother’s life.”

The princess is named as the “informant” on the document and would have notified the local registrar of her mother’s death.

The Queen was laid to rest on September 19, following 70 years of service, after family, friends and the nation said a fond farewell to the late monarch.

For the woman who was never meant to be sovereign, the Queen fulfilled her pledge to serve nation and Commonwealth and came to earn the respect of many – from world leaders to the public.

Her grieving family walked behind her coffin throughout the long day of her funeral and burial, a simple but public tribute, and the emotion was clear to see on the face of King Charles III who travelled to Scotland soon afterwards where he has remained with his Queen Consort.

The day before her death at the age of 96 the head of state pulled out of a virtual Privy Council meeting after doctors ordered her to rest.

On September 8, Buckingham Palace announced just after 12.30pm that the head of state’s doctors were concerned about her health and recommended she remain under medical supervision.

Members of the royal family rushed to be with the Queen, with Charles and Camilla, the-then Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall who were already in Scotland travelling to Balmoral.

The death certificate confirmed what was suspected on the day, that some of the Queen’s children and grandchildren tried in vain to be with her during the late monarch’s last hours.

William drove his uncles the Duke of York and Earl of Wessex, who was joined by his wife, from Aberdeen airport to Balmoral, arriving just after 5pm, while the Duke of Sussex was driven through the gates some time later.

The man who was in charge of looking after the Queen’s health was Professor Sir Huw Thomas, Head of the Medical Household and formerly physician to the Queen.

Dr Douglas Glass, who had the title Apothecary to the Queen and in 2019 acted as Charles’ physician when he made an official visit to Germany, certified the late monarch’s cause of death.

Old age is acceptable if the doctor certifying death has cared for the patient for a long time, was not aware of any disease or injury that contributed to death and had observed a gradual decline in the person’s general health and functioning.

The Queen had been experiencing sporadic mobility problems during the final period of her life and used a walking stick regularly in public.

The health development came after the head of state was secretly admitted to a private London hospital for “preliminary investigations” in October last year – her first overnight admission for eight years.

The monarch was soon back at her Windsor Castle desk but spent the following three months under doctors’ orders to only conduct light duties and missed a number of prominent events including the Cop26 climate change summit in Glasgow and the Festival of Remembrance.

Following tradition the Queen was spending her summer break at Balmoral and a few days before she died performed one of her major duties of state and asked Liz Truss to form a Government and become her 15th prime minister.