EXCLUSIVE: Inside Cancer-Riddled Queen Elizabeth's Pain-Filled, Lonely and Desperate Last Days — Begging Doctors to 'Keep Her Alive' at All Costs With Agonizing Blood Transfusions
Queen Elizabeth spent her final year in secrecy battling cancer and was left exhausted.
Sept. 12 2025, Published 2:08 p.m. ET
Queen Elizabeth spent her final year in secrecy battling cancer, enduring exhausting treatments to live long enough to see her Platinum Jubilee, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Former royal butler Paul Burrell, 67, who worked for the royal household for over a decade and later served as Princess Diana's manservant, reveals new – and grim – details of the late monarch's decline in his memoir The Royal Insider.
Queen Battled Fading Health in Private
Queen Elizabeth battled cancer in secret during her final year.
He recalled her fading health, private pleas to doctors – and her relentless determination to remain on the throne until the end, even if it mean getting agonizing blood transfusions.
Burrell said: "After her diagnosis in the summer of 2021, the Queen swore everyone to secrecy. Only her closest staff knew. Doctors told her she might not live beyond Christmas, but she replied,
'Well, that's a shame, because next year is my Platinum Jubilee year and I'd quite like to have seen that. Can you keep me alive for that?'"
Burrell added: "She endured blood transfusions… she did everything to extend her life, but she knew she was dying."
Queen Stayed Devoted to Duty Until the End
She endured blood transfusions to reach her Platinum Jubilee.
Royal commentators say her determination reflected a lifelong devotion to service.
One said: "The Queen wanted to rule until the very end. She dreaded the idea of a regency. Even when seriously ill, she felt it would be wrong for the crown to pass prematurely."
Burrell, who first met the Queen as a teenager when he joined the palace as a footman, described her decline as a painful contrast to her lifelong routines.
"Lunch was always at 1pm, tea at 5pm, dinner at 8.15pm," he wrote.
"But in the final months she stopped going to the dining room. Trays of food were brought to her room and she was eating very little. Her dresses no longer fit. She was fading away in front of the nation's eyes."
Queen Felt Lonely After Prince Philip's Death
Elizabeth walked nightly to say goodnight to Prince Philip's coffin.
Another source observed: "The Queen was lonely after Prince Philip's death in her dying days."
She would walk down the Grand Corridor each evening to say goodnight to him when his coffin rested in the private chapel at Windsor.
"That image of her alone captures the heartbreak of her final years," the source said. "He called her his 'sweetie pie' or 'cabbage.' When he died, she wanted him near her. She walked every night to say goodnight to her husband of 74 years."
The Queen's relationship with Philip, who died in 2021, was described by Burrell as a true love story.
Burrell Reflects on Queen Elizabeth’s Legacy
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Burrell recalls the Queen’s devotion to duty until the end.
Burrell recalled being invited to Windsor after the Queen's funeral for a private moment at her grave.
Standing by the marble slab bearing her name alongside Philip, King George VI and the Queen Mother, he said: "I thanked her for everything. She taught me about people, about countries, about etiquette and the English language. Her love never left me until she died. When she did, I felt the cord cut."
Royal watchers suggest Elizabeth's decision to conceal her illness even from family members was consistent with her sense of duty.
One said: "She didn't want her condition to interfere with the Jubilee or open the door to questions of a regency. She put her responsibility to the crown ahead of her own health."
Burrell added: "She had good days and bad days at the end, but she always tried. Her death at Balmoral was poignant, her favorite home. Most of the household had no idea until the news was officially announced. It was the end of an era."
