Queen Elizabeth II would go “weeks” without seeing her husband, Prince Philip, a new book titled, Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait, claims.
The sparse meetings began when the Duke of Edinburgh retired in 2017, according to an excerpt of the upcoming biography obtained by the Daily Mail on Friday.
However, author Gyles Brandreth reportedly also notes that the married couple kept in contact during that time by speaking “regularly” on the phone.
According to the book, Her Majesty understood that her and her husband’s arrangement might seem odd to some, but reportedly knew that Philip did not want “to be fussed over” and wished to “see out his days in his own way”.
Five years after his retirement, the Queen’s longtime spouse died in April 2021.
Brandreth’s book reportedly also reveals that Queen Elizabeth II had been determined to be by Philip’s side when he passed as they had found a new appreciation for each other during the pandemic lockdown in 2020.
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the couple — who were married for 73 years — reportedly spent more time together in Scotland and at Windsor Castle.
After Philip died, the Queen had “intense personal grief,” per the excerpt, but she felt it was her “Christian duty” to carry on as best she could — despite her own ailing health.
Brandreth notes in the book that watching television helped alleviate the royal’s spirits, particularly dramas like the British police series Line of Duty.
The Queen reportedly refused to slow down until last fall, when she suffered sudden low energy and was instructed by doctors to ease up, the broadcaster adds.
“My husband would certainly not have approved,” Her Majesty would say, according to Brandreth.
The Queen’s last public appearance was at the finale of her Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June.
She joined her son King Charles III and his wife, Camilla Parker Bowles, along with grandson Prince William, his wife, Kate Middleton, and their three children: Prince George, 9, Princess Charlotte, 7, and Prince Louis, 4.
Her Royal Highness passed away in September at age 96 after a 70-year reign.
This story originally appeared on Page Six and is republished here with permission.
Originally published at www.news.com.au