The Queen died from...in The Times today

[NotInMyBackYards]

In TT today, Dr Porter discusses what is in the latest biography of the Queen (by Giles B.)

Dr P seems to agree with GB that the Queen had bone cancer. He doesn't say so in so many words but he does bullet-point the signs (of which she appears to have had a number.)

I'm a Royalist (with some exceptions, of course) and feel we are being 'cheated' by (perhaps) having the reason for her death being concealed.
She was well loved and admired by millions.
Isn't the least we are owed an honest account?

I am sure everyone could see that she didn't simply die of 'old age' (in so much as anyone in their late 90s does, to a degree.) The pain she was suffering, the weight loss, the circulation problems evident in her calves (varicose ulcers for years) and her hands.

It's as if we are being taken for fools and I wonder how, legally, her dr is allowed to complete the death cert inaccurately?

My late father had 3 conditions listed on his DC, including dementia, but he'd had two other conditions (major organ deterioration) for many years as well.
Considering he was 95, then 'old age' may have covered it but it wasn't just that.

What is the point of the Palace not being honest?

we are being 'cheated' by (perhaps) having the reason for her death being concealed.

Because she didn't want you to know. Why can't ypu respect that?

Pneumonia is a frequent cause of death

Old age isn't a cause of death

Dunno, don't care. Perhaps at 96 she was tired of people knowing every little detail about her. Perhaps Brandreth is wrong and she did die of old age. 'What the Queen actually died off' is so far off my radar as a concern as to be irrelevant.

And the death certificate is available. It says old age. It is allowed to say old age. I get what people are saying about dying in old age not from old age but it’s a legally acceptable reason and the Queen is not the only one with this as a cause of death. If her doctor in his professional capacity is happy to put old age I don’t see who anyone else is to argue the toss. Plus, why does it matter!

It would be interesting to know how many deaths are registered as from 'old age'. The queen can't be the only one- I suspect that when someone reaches 96 and is generally frail it can be difficult to determine the exact cause of death. Ultimately, age leads to multiple organ failures and the exact one which triggered the death is probably unclear without a detailed postmortem- of which is unnecessary in those circumstances.

@LosingTheWill2022

I didn't see your post

I put a link earlier as to how death certs should be completed

I know that 'old age ' is not a cause of death .

It can only be put in rare circs with no other known diagnosis

Well it's specified as the cause of death on many certificates.

Perhaps OP should lobby to have George V's death certificate changed to 'murder by royal doctor.'

So if someone is old and their heart just stops working technically they die of a cardiac arrest/heart failure. But there is no legal need to do a post mortem if certain requirements are satisfied (has been seen by a doctor within so much time). So how would anyone know what happened? You can’t say for certainty without cutting the person up I guess…..which is not legally necessary.

This is mad. It’s no one’s business. I’m appalled that the stupid jumper man revealed it. Why you think you should have known I have no idea. She was a human not some deity and entitled to privacy.
Get a grip

The only downs side I see is that this could have raised some much needed awareness of Myeloma, it's not really very well known and it is truly devastating. I don't however think the public has an automatic right to this information

How is old age not a cause of death? That makes no sense. Would you prefer "telomeres wore out"?

Really shocked by this OP. It’s none of anyone’s business and it is utterly ghoulish and, frankly, strange to think any of us has any right to know. Why do you want to know OP? What would it add to your life?

@MrsDanversGlidesAgain

If you are referring to a form of Brompton cocktail that was not unusual at the time .

You have been cheated of anything.

Even if she had bone cancer that may not have been the cause of death.

It's a crime to not put the truth on a birth certificate. You can't lie, even for royal family members. It is serious and the person certifying the certificate could be in big trouble career wise if found to have lied.

Many older people die of 'old age' even if they had other illnesses at the time. It's not uncommon. Other illnesses and conditions only go on the form if they contributed to the death at that time.

My grandma had cancer and covid at the time of her death, also in her 90s. Neither appear in her death certificate as they weren't the cause of her death at that time.

I guess the certifying doctor felt these conditions had been met and that even if there was cancer it didn’t cause the death. Seems reasonable

I don't know why people keep saying this. My father died at 93 and his death certificate had frailty of old age as the main cause of death. He also had Parkinsons and it gave that as a secondary reason. That was in 2016, in England.

You can give frailty of old age as cause of death. Maybe she did have cancer, but it wasn't necessarily the cause, or the only cause, of her death.

I'm aware that doctors often 'eased' people's passing by discreet overdoses when death was inevitable and to minimise suffering. This was a decision by the royal doctor to make sure the news of the king's death was in the morning edition of the Times and not the vulgar tabloids.

Leave it. Just leave it OP. Really we have no ‘right’ to know.

Of course there can be multiple causes .

I haven't seen the queen's certificate , I have no interest in it but I assume it only says old age hence the OP .

My late MIL, suffering from terminal cancer, was given a Brompton mixture of some kind -- this was in the 1970s.
DH saw it on her notes and knew the end was not far off, he was devastated but it at least relieved her pain and he was glad of that. She died a day or so later.

@HelpMeCope85
Nothing to do with 'right to know '

Nothing to do with prurience .

It's a public document that the OP is asking about

Why are we "owed" anything?
Mind you, the "old age" reason on he death certificate was nonsense anyway, as you don't die of old age. Something will carry you off.

My point is that 'old age' is not a medical condition.
No one dies from it.

It is a completely legal and totally normal and common cause of death on UK death certificates, for people who are elderly.

I'm surprised you seem to not know this or be shocked about it.

It's a public document that the OP is asking about

But why should the Queen be treated differently to any other British citizen? Many people here have said that their elderly relative only had the cause of death given as 'Old Age' despite them knowing that said relative had other medical issues.