Princess Anne walks behind the coffin of Queen Elizabeth on September 14, 2022.Photo: Martin Meissner - Pool/Getty

Princess Anne, Princess Royal walks behind the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, adorned with a Royal Standard and the Imperial State Crown is pulled by a Gun Carriage of The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery, during a procession from Buckingham Palace to the Palace of Westminster on September 14, 2022, in London, England. Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin is taken in procession on a Gun Carriage of The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall where she will lay in state until the early morning of her funeral. Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland on September 8, 2022, and is succeeded by her eldest son, King Charles III.

Princess Annestayed true to her no-nonsense attitude even in a tragic moment.

As Princess Anne waited outside Balmoral Castle to greet her brother, the newKing Charles, in the moments after their mother’s death, a staffer offered her a brief hug after noticing that Anne appeared visibly distressed.

“There then followed a wry smile. ‘That is the last time that’s going to happen,' the Princess said firmly,” Hardman writes.

Queen Elizabeth and Princess Anne at Royal Ascot.Samir Hussein/WireImage

Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Anne, Princess Royal attend Royal Ascot Day 1 at Ascot Racecourse

Hardman shared a memo of the monarch’s final moments from her private secretary, Sir Edward Young, who was at Balmoral when the Queen died.

“Very peaceful. In her sleep. Slipped away. Old age. She wouldn’t have been aware of anything. No pain,” Young noted in the previously unseen memo that’s now part of the Royal Archives, according toDaily Mail.

Queen Elizabeth’s children at the state funeral for Queen Elizabeth on Sept. 19, 2022.ARCO BERTORELLO/AFP via Getty

TOPSHOT - Britain’s King Charles III, Britain’s Princess Anne, Princess Royal, Britain’s Prince Andrew, Duke of York and Britain’s Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex arrive at Westminster Abbey in London on September 19, 2022, for the State Funeral Service for Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II. - Leaders from around the world will attend the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. The country’s longest-serving monarch, who died aged 96 after 70 years on the throne, will be honoured with a state funeral on Monday morning at Westminster Abbey. (Photo by Marco BERTORELLO / AFP) (Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP via Getty Images)

The outlet also revealed that while there were concerns for the Queen’s well-being at the time, her death occurred with such abruptness thatKing Charles(then Prince Charles) found himself hastily boarding a helicopter for an eleventh-hour journey to Balmoral.

At the same time, the Queen seemed stable. According to one of those involved, the consensus was “a day or two, not an hour or two.”

The Making of a King: King Charles III and the Modern Monarchy.Pegasus Books

The Making of a King: King Charles III and the Modern Monarchy

Pegasus Books

In the recent documentaryCharles III: The Coronation Year, Princess Anne recounted how theQueen worried that it would be more complicatedif she died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, where the royals spent their summer breaks.

“I think there was a moment when she felt it would be more difficult if she died at Balmoral. I think we did try to persuade her that that shouldn’t be part of the decision-making process,” Anne said, according toThe Daily Telegraph. “So I hope she felt that was right in the end because we did."

source: people.com