How did she decline so rapidly?

[Maggiethecat]

Not really trying to know the cause of the queen’s death although I have wondered but can’t get my head round that picture of her greeting Liz Truss to her death 2 days later.

Initially thought it must have been something acute like a stroke or heart but then it seems like she has been ailing (haven’t really taken note, other than palace statements of mobility issues).

Perhaps she had been bedridden for weeks and made a huge effort on Monday to fulfil her last duty but I’m inclined to think had that been the case more of her family would have been near.

In terms of ways to go - she had a very "good death" - and it's important that we talk about death and how that can be as positive as it can be because none of us are getting off this planet alive. Cognition intact, loved ones in contact with her, in her own home - and it would appear that with a pattern of whatever she was struggling with meaning she was having good days and bad days - so joy till the end.

She was 96 after all. As ways to go - it's a way I would choose over many many others.

People live longer through not smoking, drinking lightly or not at all, eating well, including lots of vegetables and fruit, exercising, living in damp free accommodation. I'm sure lots of holiday help also.

I doubt it was a particularly quick decline. The fact that Prince Charles and Princess Anne have been staying near her for some time shows she's been very ill for a while. All this stuff about “episodic mobility issues” was obviously to hide the fact she was very ill and unable to be up and about much.

I do think we should be informed, I really dislike all the lies and secrecy which have surrounded the royal family for far too long.

No we really don't need to be informed. She is allowed dignity in her death. The reason for her death is absolutely no relevance to you.

Even after death people are entitled to confidentiality regarding their health and medical care.

She will have had an 'event' overnight on Wednesday night/ early Thursday morning and been left to die peacefully over the course of Thursday morning. She'll have had a DNAR in place given how frail she's become since Philip died and her age, and the plan will have been to give her plenty of pain relief if needed and let her go in her own time. I very much doubt she was conscious/ aware at all on Thursday. This is what 'medical supervision' will have meant.

I've worked in palliative care, there's every chance she rallied for a few weeks before she died, it's really really common for people who are terminally ill/ terminally old to have some of their most 'well' weeks just before they die. Sometimes we call it 'swanning' (someone having a 'swansong') and it's so common, I've known it used as an early warning signal that someone is on the way out. Given that, there's every chance she felt well enough earlier this week to carry out light duties and has been on good form for a little while. That doesn't mean she's more/ less frail or poorly than she was before, and it can sometimes make deaths seem 'sudden' but in actual fact, it's a natural phenomenon.

It's actually a really lovely way to go.

My dad’s said the same. He died whilst talking on the phone to me. We assume it was a cardiac event but no one felt the need to prove it given his age and overall health.

My friend's FIL was in heart failure, but was well enough to have a cup of tea and a biscuit and a chat with her one day. He died that evening - it can happen quite quickly.

No we really don't need to be informed. She is allowed dignity in her death. The reason for her death is absolutely no relevance to you.

Don't feel any need to know, particularly as she was 96.

But in fairness she is a historical figure and it will be known at some point. It goes with the territory.

Just like we 'know' the Corgis won't end up in Battersea Dogs Home 😁

but I’m inclined to think had that been the case more of her family would have been near.

Anne was staying with her. Charles has been visiting her daily throughout the Summer.

The weather was atrocious in Aberdeen yesterday, too foggy for a helicopter to fly. My dh was often ‘fogged on’ on the rigs he was working on. I Often had the dreaded phone call on crew change day ‘Choppers can’t come in, no flying, too foggy, won’t be home tonight’ .
Helicopter have been known to turn round and head back to either the airport or back to the rig if the fog sets in or the wind picks up on route.

She's been ill for several months. She didn't attend much of the Jubilee shenanigans and when she met Liz Truss a couple of days ago she was unrecognisable. I thought she was one of these lookalike women. I said at the time she hadn't got much time left. Still, a long life, well lived

That's ridiculous. Why does it impact her dignity in any way if we're told she died of heart failure following a heart attack?
Causes of death in old age, with a few exceptions, are not seen as impinging on the dignity of those who have died. She was queen, but she was as human as the rest of us.

It wasn’t a bruise, it was haemorrhaging. It’s very common at the very very end with cancer. It will have been on her body too as her organs failed. As said. My grandmother had it. Anyone who has sadly witnessed someone with it would;d recognise it immediately and knew she was at the very end.

My father gets bruising like that on his hands and legs, and has done for years, and I can assure you he doesn't have cancer.

I do. She gets it spot on about Markle.

What a lady !

Agree with this above.

She was a very old woman who lived a very good life and that life had come to its natural conclusion.

You say in your OP, OP that you're not really trying to know the cause of the Queen's death, why should you know? What actually caused her death has absolutely nothing to do with anyone except her family.

The speculation about what actually caused her death by some posters all seems a bit unnecessary and ghoulish.

At that great age they can go downhill, very quickly, sadly.

My grandfather was like that. Very for and active until late 80’s, then suddenly seemed a lot older and slower for 6 months, but still active. Passed in his sleep - heart attack. Best way to go. Probably similar with her majesty, slowly got slower.

Why would it be so shocking that she had cancer? All cancer is is cells that have mutated, and when your cells have been copying themselves for 90 odd years it's not surprising that one goes awry...

I think she was ready to go.

It makes me sad if it was cancer that during the jubilee etc all her family will have known. She was potentially battling that behind the scenes then coming out onto the balcony like she was fine, despite her age. I just feel extra sad that she sort of hid it from the public to put a front on that everything was well 😢

She obviously wears gloves often anyway but after rewatching the balcony appearance I noticed she was wearing gloves, potentially to hide her bruised hands

@CaveMum when someone is 96, has fairly recently lost the love of their life, and is reported to be having some mobility and health issues and drawing back from the public duties they were devoted to, I think we can be fairly confident that all the right conversations and goodbyes, had already happened. I don’t even follow the Royal family’s news much and it was clear to me the Queen’s days were numbered at the time of the Jubilee, so the family would have been very much aware.

Being there at the very end isn’t always possible. George VI died in his sleep whilst Elizabeth was on safari in Kenya. A much more difficult scenario.

While we may have more still to endure, better days will return: we will be with our friends again; we will be with our families again; we will meet again.”

When life seems hard, the courageous do not lie down and accept defeat; instead, they are all the more determined to struggle for a better future.”

• Queen Elizabeth

Ps . I find the " London Bridge" sorta odd, since it's a nursery rhyme! If you didn't know:
Operation London Bridge (also known by its code phrase London Bridge is Down) is the name of a funeral plan for Queen Elizabeth II. The plan includes the announcement of her death, the period of official mourning, and the details of her state funeral. The plan was first created in the 1960s and revised many times in the years before her death in 2022. ( Wiki)

RIP