The Queen's final days at Balmoral have been revealed.
Sources close to Her Majesty have revealed Queen Elizabeth II was "rather perky" in her last days as she enjoyed a shooting party with her cousins, had a special dinner and watched her favourite TV weatherman.
Four days before the Queen died, she announced to her cousins - whom she had invited to Balmoral Castle for a couple of days - that their dinner would be informal, The Daily Mail reported.
That meant no black tie for the men, nor long dresses for the women. However, the most unusual part of the announcement is that there would be no bagpipes being played in the Scottish castle that night.
That was a break in tradition, according to the publication.
Her guests were her Bowes-Lyons cousins, relatives through the Queen Mother's family, and they told the news outlet their cousin, the Queen, was in "good form", adding that she was "perky even".
Another visitor included the Moderator of the Church of Scotland, Reverend Dr Iain Greenshields, who visited the late monarch on both Saturday and Sunday before she died. Speaking to the Daily Mail he said she was in "good spirits" and was "absolutely on the ball."
"She was talking about her past, her love for Balmoral, her father, her mother, Prince Philip, horses, very much engaged with what was happening in the church and what was happening in the nation, too," Greenshields said.
"Her health was frail, we knew that, but when I left her on Sunday she was very positive, and I'm just finding it very hard to believe that in those few days things had changed so much."
A source close to the monarch said the 96-year-old drew strength from those close to her, but a separate source went on to reveal a touching revelation that it wasn't just those close to her.
The unnamed source told the Daily Mail that Her Majesty had developed a liking for BBC weatherman Tomasz Schafernaker.
"It was like a bit of a crush; she always wanted to watch the forecasts when he was on," the source said. "She was amused hearing the cadences when his name was read out but she loved watching him, too."
While Her Majesty's final days were spent with those she loved, her final summer was also spent doing the things she loved.
Staff revealed to the Daily Mail that during Europe's July heatwave - when she was still residing at Windsor, she asked for a sun-lounger to be put out for her in the garden so she could take advantage of the warm days.
Other memorable moments for the monarch included one last ride on a pony.
The Queen was known as an avid animal lover and owned many horses in her career as a race horse owner.
Stud groom Terry Pendry told the Daily Mail the monarch visited her horses at Windsor Castle before going to Scotland and, when asked if she wanted to sit on a pony, she said yes.
Pendry said the Queen did four laps and believed it was the first time she had been on a leading rein since learning to ride.
In her final days, she also spoke to her horse trainer Clive Cox about her filly, Love Affairs, her horse who would go on to be the final winner of the Queen.
He told the news outlet: "We talked about the filly, how the race might pan out, how another horse of hers was doing in my stable and about a couple of other things. She was as sharp as a tack."
Unfortunately for the Queen, her final summer was filled with both happy and sad memories.
The Daily Mail revealed that her final months at her beloved estate were tainted with sadness following the passing of her oldest and longest-surviving dog, Candy.
At 18 years old, the dachshund-corgi cross breed - known as a dorgi - passed away shortly after the Queen arrived at Balmoral.
The Queen has long had a rule that her dogs are buried at the estate in which they die, however Candy was flown to London and transferred to Windsor where she was buried with another long-serving companion, Vulcan, who passed away in 2020.
Normally she would oversee the burials of her precious pets along with her head gardener, however Her Majesty did not oversee Candy's burial.
The move was one that led her staff to believe she was planning to return to Windsor at the end of her summer holiday in Scotland so she could later oversee Candy's headstone being placed.
Despite Her Majesty's physical decline in recent months – which made standing and walking difficult - sources claim on the week of the Queen's passing, there were no "immediate" alarms about her health, but a doctor and nursing staff were kept close by.
Unfortunately by the Wednesday Her Majesty reportedly experienced a "sudden change" in her condition and her health deteriorated substantially, resulting in castle staff alerting the royal family.
While it is not known what happened in the Queen's final hours and whether she received the last rites, two of her children, Princess Anne and Prince Charles, were by her side at the time of her passing.
Queen Elizabeth II passed away at 96 on September 8. Her funeral will be held on Monday, September 19. For everything you need to know about Her Majesty's state funeral click here.
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