A new royal biography is offering a revealing look into the final years of Prince Philip, including a previously undisclosed claim about his long-term health before his death in 2021.
According to historian Hugo Vickers, the Duke of Edinburgh “had a journey with pancreatic cancer for the last eight years of his life,” a detail that was not made public at the time.
The claim appears in Vickers’ new book, Queen Elizabeth II: A Personal History, with excerpts first reported by People and serialized in the Daily Mail.
Claim Detailed in New Biography
In the book, Vickers writes that doctors “detected a shadow on his pancreas, and had cut him right across his stomach,” adding that the verdict was “inoperable pancreatic cancer.”
He also states that Philip “was well-established links with Philip’s family” and later returned home, where he was cared for privately in his final years.
Prince Philip’s Final Years
GettyPhilip died in April 2021 at the age of 99, just weeks before his 100th birthday. Buckingham Palace at the time said he died of old age.
The Duke had largely stepped away from public duties after retiring in 2017 and spent much of his later years at Wood Farm on the Sandringham estate before eventually returning to Windsor Castle.
Vickers writes that during his later years, it was believed “that he might not be seen in public again,” but that Philip ultimately “outwitted the pessimists” and made appearances after recovering from earlier health issues.
A Personal Look at His Final Days
The biography also offers a more intimate account of Philip’s final moments.
“On the last night of his life, he gave his nurses the slip, shuffled along the corridor on his Zimmer frame, helped himself to a beer and drank it in the Oak Room,” Vickers writes.
“The following morning, he got up, had a bath, said he did not feel well, and quietly slipped away.”
Vickers adds that Philip had lived with pancreatic cancer “for nearly eight years — far longer than the usual survival time from diagnosis.”
A Claim That Adds New Context
Buckingham Palace never publicly confirmed a cancer diagnosis during Philip’s lifetime, and the official cause of death remained listed as old age.
As with many royal biographies, the claims presented rely on accounts and sources rather than official statements. Still, the book provides new context around the Duke of Edinburgh’s final years and the private nature of his declining health.
