Queen Elizabeth was suffering from bone cancer, Boris Johnson claims in memoir

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has claimed in his yet-to-release book that Queen Elizabeth II was suffering from bone cancer. His memoir is set to release on October 10.

Johnson also details his final meeting with the late monarch after he stepped down from the position of PM two days before she died on September8, 2022.

Johnson recalls the Queen's final days at Balmoral, Scotland, in the book titled "Unleashed" and writes that he was aware "for more than a year that she had a form of bone cancer". Her doctors "were worried that at any time she could enter a sharp decline."

Details of the Queen's death have never been officially revealed and speculations about the reason have continued to circulate. This is the first time a former government official has indicated how she died.

Queen Elizabeth II was 96 when she died and her death certificate mentions "old age" as the cause.

Buckingham Palace has not commented on Johnson's memoir, as it follows the policy of refraining from saying anything about books written about the royal family.

Talking about his meeting with the Queen at Balmoral, Johnson wrote that he was greeted by the Queen’s private secretary, Edward Young, who mentioned to him that her health had deteriorated significantly over the summer.

“She seemed pale and more stooped, and she had dark bruising on her hands and wrists, probably from drips or injections,” he wrote.

Boris Johnson and Queen Elizabeth

However, he stresses that despite being unwell, she was mentally perfectly fine.

“But her mind – as Edward had also said – was completely ­unimpaired by her illness, and from time to time in our conversation she still flashed that great white smile in its sudden mood-lifting beauty," he wrote.

Praising the late monarch's dedication to her work, Johnson says that she “had known all summer that she was going, but was determined to hang on and do her last duty”.

The Queen ensured a "peaceful and orderly transition" of power from him to Liz Truss, Johnson wrote.

“She radiated such an ethic of ­service, patience and leadership that you really felt you would, if necessary, die for her,” he continued. “That may sound barmy to some people (and totally obvious to many more), but that loyalty, primitive as it may appear, is still at the heart of our system."

Former British leaders Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron have also in the past shared details of the time spent with the Queen in their autobiographies.