EXCLUSIVE: Queen Elizabeth's 'Secret Miscarriage' Revealed by Close Friend

Queen Elizabeth II suffered a previously undisclosed secret miscarriage during her marriage to Prince Philip, according to a close childhood friend whose account has now been revealed by royal author Gyles Brandreth.

As RadarOnline.com readers know, Elizabeth, who died aged 96 in September 2022 after a 70-year reign, had four children with Philip – King Charles, 77, Princess Anne, 76, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, 66, and Prince Edward, 62.

However, longtime British royal commentator and author Brandreth, 78, has now disclosed the late monarch also experienced a pregnancy loss, citing information from her childhood friend Sonia Berry.

It is not known when the miscarriage occurred.

Brandreth said during Hello!'s Right Royal Podcast: "I decided I am telling my story of Elizabeth II, so I'll put it all in.'

The author, who knew Elizabeth personally, was referring to how he included the revelation in his new book Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait, in which he discusses the Queen's family life while comparing her experience of motherhood with that of her ancestor Queen Victoria.

Brandreth writes: "Elizabeth had four children and, so her childhood friend Sonia Berry told me, one miscarriage. Victoria, despite the discomforts and indignities of childbirth, had nine children."

The revelation provides a rare glimpse into an intensely private aspect of Elizabeth's life that remained undisclosed throughout her reign.

Brandreth said he deliberately referenced the loss only "in passing" in his account and attributed the information to people who knew the Queen.

The late monarch's family life stretched across several distinct periods of her reign. Charles and Anne were born before Elizabeth became Queen in February 1952, while Andrew and Edward arrived during her years on the throne.

Elizabeth and Philip were married for 73 years before the Duke of Edinburgh died aged 99 in April 2021, two months before what would have been his 100th birthday.

Brandreth also discussed the extraordinary longevity of their relationship, describing their marriage as "fascinating."

He said: "To live with the same person for so long and to get along so well is extraordinary. They were an amazing double act."

Brandreth said one of Elizabeth's friends who had attended the royal couple's wedding subsequently contacted him after reading his book and praised his portrayal of their relationship.

He added: "And I was very pleased that one of her friends who had been at the wedding actually wrote to me when they'd read the book and said, 'I think you're the first person to get them right.'"

Brandreth noted the partnership worked partly because Philip occupied a unique position beside a woman whose status inevitably affected how other people behaved around her.

"They had this understanding because nobody could treat her normally," the writer claimed.

The disclosure comes during the year in which Elizabeth would have celebrated her 100th birthday.

She was born on April 21, 1926, and members of the royal family have been coming together for a series of events commemorating the centenary of her birth.

Elizabeth married Philip in November 1947 and remained married to him until his death at Windsor Castle in 2021. She became Britain's longest-reigning monarch during a life spanning extraordinary social and political change.

Born in 1926, she unexpectedly became heir after her uncle Edward VIII's abdication and succeeded her father, George VI, in 1952.

Her 70-year reign encompassed 15 British prime ministers, the decline of empire, technological revolution, and repeated royal crises.

Known for her formidable sense of duty and public restraint, she remained a symbol of continuity throughout decades of upheaval before her death at her beloved Balmoral estate in September 2022.