King Charles heartbreaking response when told mum Queen Elizabeth had died
dailyrecord.co.ukKing Charles had been travelling from the Birkhall estate on Royal Deeside when he was summoned to return to Balmoral to be at the bedside of the late Queen Elizabeth as she sadly died before he got there.The 75-year-old monarch had been unaware of his mother's condition and was picking mushrooms out of the estate in Aberdeenshire when him and his wife Camilla raced to get back on time alongside their team in the Land Rover.It was the duty of the Queen's private secretary Sir Edward Young to inform Charles of his mother's death before anyone else could, according to reports in the Mirror, which cited Robert Hardman explaining in his new biography Charles III: New King, New Court."There was no question of waiting for the car to pull up at Balmoral," writes Mr Hardman.
A senior official told him: "Imagine if there had been some accident or a hold-up along the way. It was essential that the new King was told before anyone else."He reportedly called the Balmoral switchboard which worked its way through various numbers although the signal where Charles and Camilla were in the rural landscape wasn't great as they finally got hold of a staff member with them.
The now King was told to pull over as Sir Edward was on the phone, with Mr Hardman explaining that "the new monarch knew exactly what was coming next," according to excerpts of the book serialised in the Daily Mail.It added: "He had just turned off the B976 onto the back drive of the estate when, at the age of 73, he was addressed as ‘Your Majesty’ for the first time.
No further explanation was needed." Join the Daily Record's WhatsApp community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages. Charles reportedly responded softly: "We're nearly
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