Prince Philip, aged 99, died at Windsor Castle in April 2021. A new book by royal biographer Hugo Vickers reports that the late Duke of Edinburgh was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer nearly eight years before his death, a detail the author says was not reflected on the death certificate, which lists ‘old age’.

Book details and reported timeline

Vickers’ book, titled Queen Elizabeth II, recounts that two years after Prince Philip was hospitalised in December 2011 for a blocked coronary artery, a private clinic in Marylebone detected a shadow on his pancreas. The author writes that surgeons “cut him right across his stomach” and that “the verdict was inoperable pancreatic cancer.”

According to the book, Philip lived with the condition for nearly eight years, “far longer than the usual survival time from diagnosis.” Vickers also describes the night of the duke’s final hours, saying he poured himself a beer the evening before, got up the following morning, took a bath, said he did not feel well and then “quietly slipped away.” These details are attributed to the author’s account.

Family reaction and public context

The book notes that Queen Elizabeth II was not with her husband of 73 years when he died, a detail Vickers attributes to his account. At the time of Philip’s death, his son, then the Prince of Wales and now King Charles, released a message saying: “As you can imagine, my family and I miss my father enormously. He was a much loved and appreciated figure and apart from anything else, I can imagine, he would be so deeply touched by the number of other people here and elsewhere around the world and the Commonwealth, who also I think, share our loss and our sorrow.”

LADbible Group has contacted the royal household for comment, the article said.

Health information and statistics

The article references NHS guidance that pancreatic cancer is a disease that can be found anywhere in the pancreas and that its seriousness depends on location, size, spread and a patient’s general health. It also cites Cancer Research UK statistics noting there are around 10,200 pancreatic cancer deaths in the UK each year.

Prince Philip was widely known as the Duke of Edinburgh and served as the husband and consort to Queen Elizabeth II. He died at Windsor Castle in April 2021 at the age of 99.

Image Referance: https://www.ladbible.com/news/royal-family/prince-philip-cancer-death-book-490291-20260330