Prince Philip’s eight-year cancer fight revealed for first time as final act uncovered

Extraordinary details about Prince Philip’s secret battle with cancer are shared for the very first time in a new book about the late Queen Elizabeth.

The book – Queen Elizabeth II by biographer Hugo Vickers – reveals how the Queen’s husband was diagnosed with inoperable pancreatic cancer in June 2013, while being treated at the private London Clinic in Marylebone.

While the official cause of the then Duke of Edinburgh’s death two months before his 100th birthday in April 2021 was listed as “old age”, what the public didn’t know was that by that time he had been living with cancer for eight long years – “far longer than the usual survival time from diagnosis” Hugo writes.

Prince Philip secretly battled cancer . (Credit: Getty)

The author also sheds light on Philip’s final hours at Windsor Castle where he had returned to be reunited with his wife after a month-long hospital stay. 

The book explains how Philip evaded nurses before heading to the Oak Room – a sitting room – on his zimmer frame and pouring himself a beer.

“The following morning, he got up, had a bath, said he did not feel well and quietly slipped away,” the book reveals.

Hugo explained that the Queen wasn’t by her husband’s side when he passed away.

“There had often been times in earlier days when she had asked the staff to let her know when Philip was leaving, only to be told, ‘His Royal Highness left 20 minutes ago’,” the author wrote.

“She took the line, I was told, that she was ‘absolutely furious that, as so often in life, he left without saying goodbye’,” he continued.

After news of Philip’s death broke in 2021, his daughter-in-law Sophie, the Countess of Wessex, gave a moving insight into his last moments on earth.

“It was right for him. It was so gentle,” she said. “It was just like somebody took him by the hand and off he went. Very, very peaceful and that’s all you want for somebody isn’t it?”

Prince William, meanwhile, said he felt “lucky” to have had his grandfather to guide him well into his adult life, “both through the good times and the hardest days”.

“I will always be grateful that my wife had so many years to get to know my grandfather and for the kindness he showed her,” he said.

“I will never take for granted the special memories my children will always have of their great-grandpa coming to collect them in his carriage and seeing for themselves his infectious sense of adventure as well as his mischievous sense of humour!

“My grandfather was an extraordinary man and part of an extraordinary generation… I will miss my Grandpa, but I know he would want us to get on with the job.”

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