Secret detail in final photo of late Queen reveals true depth of her feelings for key royal

The final photo of Her Majesty the Queen contained a very touching tribute to the love of her life, her husband Prince Philip.

The royal couple were married for 73 years before Philip passed away at the age of 99 in April 2021. They were utterly devoted to each other, with the Queen famously saying of the Duke “He has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years.” And she found a way to keep him close in the final days of her life. The last photo of the Queen was taken just two days before she passed away on 8 September 2022. And it contained a touching detail related to her late husband.

Dressed in a tartan skirt and wearing a cardigan, the Queen was pictured carrying her black handbag and also using a cane. And it was the cane that proved especially poignant. According to author Omid Scobie in his book Endgame, the walking stick was a “dark wood favourite that once belonged to Prince Philip”. The image in question was taken in the Drawing Room at Balmoral by photographer Jane Barlow and captured what would prove to be the Queen’s final public duty — appointing Liz Truss as prime minister.

And the monarch was determined to fulfil her duties, despite being in “crippling pain”, according to Scobie. “Concerned courtiers suggested to the monarch that she might be better off letting Prince Charles carry out the task in her place,” he wrote. “After all, the heir had already stood in for his mother at the opening of Parliament four months earlier. But this was one duty the Queen—despite the crippling pain she was experiencing in private—would not step aside from. ‘It’s my job,’ she defiantly told aides.

Photographer Jane, who photographed the Queen on several occasions, later spoke to the BBC about the images, revealing the monarch was “very smiley” as they spoke before Ms Truss arrived. The Queen apparently talked about the weather and how dark it was, and was “frail” but remained in “good spirits”. “I was there to photograph her meeting the new prime minister but for me the best picture was the one of the Queen on her own. And it has obviously become more significant now,” she shared. “I’ve had so many lovely comments about the picture. “It’s a real privilege to be able to take that picture, an honour and a privilege. It’s like that for a lot of our job.”