Prince Philip's Secret Eight-Year Cancer Battle Revealed in Explosive Biography
A major new royal biography has disclosed that Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, lived with inoperable pancreatic cancer for nearly eight years before his death in April 2021. The revelation comes from biographer Hugo Vickers in his forthcoming book Queen Elizabeth II, which is being serialised exclusively in the Mail on Sunday.
Diagnosis and Medical History
According to Vickers, Prince Philip was diagnosed with the aggressive cancer in June 2013 during an eleven-day hospital stay. The diagnosis followed exploratory surgery at the private London Clinic in Marylebone, where doctors detected a shadow on his pancreas and performed an abdominal procedure. The biographer writes that the verdict was inoperable pancreatic cancer, a condition with typically poor survival rates.
Remarkably, Prince Philip survived for nearly eight years post-diagnosis, far exceeding the usual prognosis for this type of cancer. His medical challenges began earlier, with hospitalisation in December 2011 for a blocked coronary artery. Despite these health issues, the Duke enjoyed generally good health until his final decade.
Final Days and Passing
Vickers provides intimate details about Prince Philip's final night at Windsor Castle. On what would be his last evening, the 99-year-old Duke reportedly gave his nurses the slip, shuffled along a corridor using his Zimmer frame, and poured himself a beer in the Oak Room sitting room. The following morning, he bathed, expressed feeling unwell, and quietly passed away.
His death certificate listed 'old age' as the cause of death. Queen Elizabeth II was not present when her husband of seventy-three years died, and was said to have been upset that as so often in life, he left without saying goodbye.
Royal Duties and Political Considerations
Four years after his cancer diagnosis, Prince Philip stepped down from royal duties in 2017. Vickers reveals that by 2019, rumours about his declining health had become so serious that contingency plans were drawn up to postpone that year's general election should he die. The biographer notes that someone remarked the Duke was being public-spirited and making an effort to survive so as not to upset the election, after which his condition apparently improved.
The biography paints a picture of remarkable resilience, with Prince Philip continuing to live actively despite his diagnosis, ultimately passing away just two months before what would have been his 100th birthday.
