EXCLUSIVE: Queen Elizabeth's Devastating Heartbreak Revealed on What Would've Been Her 100th Birthday — 'She Wasn't Ready'
Queen Elizabeth would have turned 100 on April 21, 2026.
April 21 2026, Updated 4:30 p.m. ET
Queen Elizabeth II’s deepest heartbreak came when she wasn’t by her husband Prince Philip’s side in his final moments, despite being just rooms away inside Windsor Castle, RadarOnline.com can exclusively reveal.
The couple had been married for 73 years, with the queen famously calling Philip my "strength and stay" throughout her decades on the throne. Devastated Elizabeth, who would have turned 100 on April 21, died less than a year and a half later at the age of 96.
Prince Philip Was 'Gone' Before the Queen Woke Up
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip were married for 73 years.
"She was devastated," one insider revealed about Philip's death on April 9, 2021. "Even at 95, even after everything she’d endured, she wasn’t ready. Not for that. Philip was the only man she ever loved."
The queen was still in bed when Philip passed away in his sleep.
"She had been up with him the night before," a former courtier revealed. "He was fading, and she knew it. But by morning, she hadn’t yet gotten out of bed when the news came — he was gone."
The late Duke of Edinburgh's health had been failing, causing him to spend 28 days in the hospital from mid-February through mid-March before he died. It was the longest the prince had ever spent hospitalized.
Prince Philip Was Pronounced Dead Before Queen Could Reach His Bedside
Queen Elizabeth was asleep in a nearby room when Prince Philip quietly passed away.
After leaving the hospital for the final time, Philip had a bed similar to the one he used in the medical facility set up at Windsor Castle, so he could receive around-the-clock care in the familiar royal comfort of his dressing room.
On the morning of his death, the duke was assisted to the bathroom by a nurse, royal biographer Gyles Brandreth wrote in his 2022 book, Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait.
"When he came back, he said he felt a little faint and wanted help getting back into bed," Brandreth described. "The nurse called the Duke’s valet and the Queen’s page for help — and he died before the Queen could be called."
The author sadly shared about Elizabeth, "She wasn’t yet up. And she wasn’t called until after a doctor had come and pronounced the Duke dead."
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip's Storybook Life
The queen and her husband are seen in a portrait taken in 1953, one year after she ascended to the throne.
Philip and then-Princess Elizabeth married at Westminster Abbey on November 20, 1947, when she was only 21, and he was 26.
Less than four years later, she ascended to the throne following the death of her father, King George VI, on February 6, 1952, at the age of 56.
The couple welcomed two children, now King Charles III and Princess Anne, before Elizabeth became queen, in 1948 and 1950 respectively. The duo waited eight years before welcoming their third child, Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, in 1960, followed by Prince Edward in 1964.
'My Strength and Stay'
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Queen Elizabeth gushed about her husband during a 50th anniversary speech in 1997.
On the couple's golden 50th wedding anniversary in 1997, Elizabeth revealed how much of her success was due to her husband's love and guidance in a speech celebrating the occasion.
"He is someone who doesn't take easily to compliments, but he has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years, and I, and his whole family, and this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim, or we shall ever know," the queen remarked.
