Queen Elizabeth II wrote a five-word final entry in her private diary two days before her death, a royal biographer has revealed. The entry, dated September 6, 2022, read: ‘Edward came to see me.’
The revelation comes from an updated edition of Robert Hardman’s biography, Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story. Hardman discovered the handwritten journal while researching the book. The late monarch died on September 8, 2022, at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. She was 96.
The ‘Edward’ in the entry refers to Sir Edward Young, the Queen’s private secretary. Young was assisting her with arrangements for the swearing-in of new Privy Council members following Liz Truss’s appointment as prime minister.
Hardman described the entry as consistent with the Queen’s lifelong habit of keeping a factual record. He wrote that it ‘could have been describing another normal working day starting in the usual way’ as she noted the arrangements Young had made for the Truss administration.
Queen Elizabeth once explained her approach to diary writing. ‘I have no time to record conversations, only events,’ she told society diarist Kenneth Rose.
Online Reaction
After the diary entry was reported, social media users began posting humorous guesses about what the five words might have been. The guessing game spread rapidly on X, formerly Twitter.
One widely shared post from the account @NoContextBrits asked users to reply with ‘wrong answers.’ The post received more than 7.8 million views, 3,600 reposts, and 4,600 likes within three days.
Responses included references to pop culture, politics, and British life. One user wrote, ‘Stream Disease by Lady Gaga.’ Another posted, ‘every ting gon be irie,’ referencing the 1998 film Meet Joe Black.
Other replies joked about the Queen’s corgis, the royal family, and her final meeting with Liz Truss. The guessing game became a meme format known as Queen Elizabeth’s Final Five Words.
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Final Days at Balmoral
The Queen’s final public engagement took place on September 6, 2022, when she formally appointed Liz Truss as prime minister at Balmoral. She died two days later in her sleep.
Hardman’s biography also notes that King Charles has continued his mother’s practice of keeping a diary, though in a different style. A senior courtier said Charles ‘doesn’t write great narrative diaries like he used to’ but ‘scribbles down his recollections and reflections’ on daily events.
The updated biography, Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story, was published in November 2024.
