Insights into Late Queen's Peaceful Farewell: Her last moments are revealed

Queen Elizabeth's final moments were recorded by her most senior member of staff in an extraordinary and profoundly moving memo which can be revealed by the Daily Mail for the first time today.

Sir Edward Young, her devoted private secretary, who was at Balmoral when Her Late Majesty died on September 8 2022, noted: 'Very peaceful. In her sleep. Slipped away. Old age. She wouldn't have been aware of anything. No pain.'

The existence of the historic document, now lodged in the Royal Archives, has not been made public until now.

It forms part of a remarkable insider account of the late monarch's bravery, diligence and devotion to duty in her last hours contained in a fascinating new biography of the King, 'Charles III: New King, New Court. The Inside Story' by the Mail's esteemed royal writer Robert Hardman.

The book is being exclusively serialised over four days from tomorrow.

The biography also reveals how, shortly after Sir Edward wrote his note, a footman brought a locked red box of paperwork found at the late Queen's deathbed.

When it was opened, staff discovered two sealed letters: one to her son and heir, now King Charles III, and the other to Sir Edward himself.

While their contents are unlikely ever to be made public, the existence of the letters shows that Elizabeth, 96, quietly recognised her time on this earth was at an end.

The box also contained her final piece of paperwork and last royal order: her choice of candidates for the prestigious Order of Merit for 'exceptionally meritorious service' across the Commonwealth.

'Even on her deathbed, there had been work to do. And she had done it,' Hardman writes of her unparalleled devotion to duty.