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Gyles Brandeth defends saying the Queen had cancer

Queen Elizabeth II during a visit to officially open the new building at Thames Hospice, Maidenhead, Berkshire. Picture date: Friday July 15, 2022. PA Photo. See PA story ROYAL Queen. Photo credit should read: Kirsty O'Connor/PA Wire
On the Queen’s death certificate, doctors wrote she died from ‘old age’ (Picture: PA)

Gyles Brandeth has defended claiming the Queen had cancer when she died, saying he ‘didn’t want to upset anyone’.

The 74-year-old author alleged in his new book ‘Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait’ Her Majesty had been suffering from myeloma when she died in September age 96.

Myeloma is a type of bone marrow cancer which does not have a cure, but there are treatments which can help extend life for many years.

On her death certificate, doctors wrote the Queen had died from ‘old age’.

Speaking to HELLO! magazine, Mr Brandeth said: ‘It’s not unusual for a doctor to write “old age” on a death certificate when a person over 80 dies, as happened with the Queen.

‘The Queen’s doctor in Scotland, who had been her physician for 30 years, said they had known about her condition for some time and the end was not unexpected.

‘I really didn’t want to upset anyone, yet if it’s going to be confirmed – and one day it will – at least I, as a reporter, am saying what was out there.’

The former MP was close to the Queen’s late husband, Prince Phillip.

EGHAM, ENGLAND - MARCH 31: Queen Elizabeth II during a visit to The Royal Australian Air Force Memorial on March 31, 2021 near Egham, England. (Photo by Steve Reigate - WPA Pool/Getty Images)
Myeloma is a type of bone marrow cancer which does not have a cure (Picture: Steve Reigate – WPA Pool/Getty Images)

However, he declined to run the book past King Charles before publication.

‘He hasn’t got time and I suspect he would think, “I don’t need to read this, I see my family through my own eyes”,’ Mr Brandeth explained.

The upcoming book also confirmed that only Princess Anne would have been by the Queen’s side in her final moments.

The death certificate, released by National Records of Scotland, noted the time of the her death on September 8 as 3.10pm.

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