To wonder how much of the Queen and Prince Phillip's long lives were down to wealth

Not everyone who is poor will die younger. Not everyone who is wealthy will live a long life.

Yet on the whole..:

And I mean looking at general trends rather than individual statistics

Poverty and life expectancy are directly correlated.

Yes it is, as seeing some history programmes, those people who had, more money lived longer.
It doesn't however, stop dementia, I worked in a private care home, where money wasn't a problem. Think bankers, accounts etc. Yet they still got dementia or some other from of mental illness.
This is why I am skeptical when, I hear things that say keep your brain active, will reduce your risk of dementia. But surely been an accountant before calculators or computers, must have kept the brain active, yet they got dementia.

Having a life of purpose would have helped. She was young when she became Queen and had a purpose to her life to stay active and healthy. Wealth and health care would have supported this too.

Wealth and early access to good medical care will be a factor, coupled with good food and an active healthy lifestyle.

Nothing will prevent dementia in the sense of absolutely guaranteeing that you don't get it. Intelligence, education and intellectual stimulation all lower your risk of vascular dementia and/or Alzheimer's, but that didn't stop Iris Murdoch, one of the most brilliant minds of her generation, succumbing. It's the same as the wealth thing running through this thread: a strong correlation is not the same as a 1 to 1 inevitable link.

So was/ did my grandma. Lived until 88 despite growing up in poverty and doing manual work until she was past 70...

Agree with this.
Genes is really important, plus purpose (keeping working or some other activity).

Wealth does not buy health. Look at Steve Jobs.

What a stupid question! The answer is obvious. A life of wealth, neverending holidays, access to the best of everything? Not rocket science is it??

Everyone in my family have lived over 90 and they definitely were not rich.

I'm in NZ and people living to 100 - or indeed over - is not really seen as uncommon here. My friend's DM recently died at the same age as the Queen, her aunt will be 100 soon (and is not on any medication and lives alone at home), her FIL recently died at 92, my DF is 89 - none of them were wealthy. Even my GPs, both heavy smokers, lived until their mid-80s. I really think it is a combination of good genes and sheer luck.

Probably genes make a load of difference. My mil was in a pretty middle of the road nursing home which was understaffed and the quality of her care was patchy. During the pandemic she never saw a doctor at all even though she was sick with shingles and some sort of infection. She lived on cake as she wouldn’t eat the food and didn’t ever get out of bed either for the nearly 2 and a half years she was in there. Even despite of all this she still made it to 96.

The Queen had always taken plenty of exercise and the work was keeping her mentally active. Obviously she had the best of care , nutrition and medical attention. So in some ways i was surprised that she didn’t make it into her 100’s

Wealth.... only as far as it might mean less stress (might)
Healthy Lifestyle is a factor but this can be obtained by the okay off as well as the well off..... and a big dollop of luck & genes.

Your stats might be skewed by the type of person in the care homes you worked in.... and there are many at home looking after themselves or with minimal help.

My MIL is 92 and lives with us. Irish, one of 12 children. Worked all adult life, running childrens homes, and in education welfare. Never drunk, smoked, or gone out in sun. Doesn’t eat crap. Got all her marbles, walks with just a stick. My husband is 70. Just had a medical and doc said he’s in good shape - better than most 45 year olds. Good genes for sure, but lifestyle choices are surely a major factor. Poor diet, drinking, smoking all seem to be issues in deprived areas of country. The people that make better choices, from whatever background seem to age far better. So better education and early years care would help IMO of course.

I think it’s genes as others have said and a healthy diet/ moderate exercise and not smoking. Princess Margaret shows that you can override good genes if your lifestyle isn’t good. Obviously wealth helps to play a part in diet especially, I’m guessing both of them would have had regular health checks to spot anything early too. Philip probably wouldn’t have lived so long of the Queen hadn’t made him give up smoking.

It's got to help
My great nan lived to 97. Born in 1890. Stayed in her own home with all her marbles to the end.
Tbf I think the queen didn't smoke and certainly seemed pretty fit and active.

I think their privilege and wealth had a lot to do with it.
Of course they had good diets, kept fit and active and might have had good genes.
But they would have top chefs that can cook healthy food without using up any of their own time or headspace . They would have considerable free time and resources to pursue sports such as horseriding, sailing, private swimming pools etc
They would had access to best possible health care and regular thorough health checks to catch and treat any health issues quickly. When Prince Philip came out of hospital for example he wouldn't have been chair or bed bound relying on twice daily Carers to.pop in and give him a ham sandwich before putting him to bed! He would have been very comfortable in his own home with attentive care.
I think money alleviates a lot of life's stresses too and long term stress can detrimentally impact your health.
So I think the chances of living a long healthy life was greatly stacked in their favour.

My mum had her 90th birthday on Sunday, grew up in poverty, never eats healthy food and is living independently.

Their wealth, comfortable and stimulating lives will certainly have helped, but there will also have been a substantial genetic contribution and a fair input of good luck.

My dad wasnt at all wealthy but i hardly ever knew him to be ill and he lived to 98,with all his teeth and he wasnt senile.He didnt smoke however,liked odd tot of whisky and was a very positive person,very social ,I think a lot of it is your genes i hope ive inherited his im pretty fit for my age people think im younger so hopefully i have.my mum lived to 82 but had extremely bad osteoporois which i havent got so i think i favour my dad.

There did seem to be a lot of people around the funeral time saying that the Queen reminded them of their own granny, who had been born at the same time but had died twenty years earlier, making it easy to conclude that the main difference in longevity was wealth. That isn't a proper sample though!

My parents are 93/92. Live at home alone and are in relatively good health, and are 100% clear headed. My mum still drives.

They ate healthily all their lives (meat and two-veg type food, cooked from scratch). They stopped smoking when my mum got pregnant 56 years ago. They like a few glasses of wine. But mostly I think it's down to genetics.

I'm an older mum (50 with toddlers), so I hope I have an equally long and healthy life.

The photo of her with Liz Truss was exactly as my mum looked in the last couple of years of her life. She was 97 when she died.

My gt nan lived to 101 , poor upbringing and my gt grandad smoked heavily and do lot of second hand smoke in the house etc
She was always busy though
Gt grandad made 88
I think genetics plays a part