Last summer in Balmoral.
Queen Elizabeth II had arrived at her Scottish residence in mid-July, on the 21st precisely – like every summer.
Settling first in the smaller and cozier seven-bedroom Craigowan Lodge on Royal Deeside, she was eventually moved to Balmoral Castle, a mile away, on August 9.
Walks, picnics and barbecues… A summer almost like any other was looming in Balmoral.
Just a few weeks ago, the sovereign had also been seen walking her corgis in the gardens – slowly and carefully – but in the fresh air.
“The Queen had spent her final weeks enjoying the country life she loved,” a source told the
Daily Mail
.
A rhythm long established by the Queen and her husband Prince Philip.
Read alsoLove, drama and secrets: Elizabeth II, a private life under the gold of Buckingham Palace
In video, the BBC announces the death of Queen Elizabeth II
Widely surrounded
Full screen
Elizabeth II and Prince Philip during a farm visit to Balmoral, September 1972. Getty Images
At her royal residence this summer, she was accompanied by a handful of loyal employees who were said to have sworn to stay by her side until the end.
Paul Whybrew - nicknamed "Tall Paul" -, and Barry Mitford, her two pages, were, as always, with her.
These regular companions brought him the
Racing Post every day
(the horse racing magazine she used to read every morning) and would sit with her to watch the horse races on TV.
Alongside her was also Angela Kelly, the Queen's personal seamstress, who has become one of her most intimate in recent months.
Fiercely protective, Angela - humorously nicknamed "AK47" - would not have left her with a sole.
"She was overprotective and made sure that Her Majesty didn't do too much," say the sources of our British colleagues.
The royal residences of Elizabeth II
In images, in pictures
See the slideshow08 photos
See the slideshow08 photos
In parallel with this "
team
closer, all the family members came to visit her.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their three young children - who nicknamed their great-grandmother "Gan Gan" - came, as usual, to spend the end of their holidays at Balmoral.
The monarch would have been particularly comforted by the regular presence of her son, Prince Edward, accompanied by his wife, Sophie.
Even two of her late sister Princess Margaret's children, Lady Sarah Chatto and David Armstrong Jones, Earl of Snowdon, made the trip.
The only absentees from this family parade: the Duke and Duchess of Sussex who live in the United States.
Arrived too late on September 8, Prince Harry was finally unable to see his grandmother before his death.
Tuesday, September 6,