The Queen seemed frail but in "really good spirits" according to the vicar who spent the monarch's last weekend with her.
The Rt Rev Dr Iain Greenshields, 68, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, stayed right by the Queen's side at Balmoral, after performing a sermon at Braemar and Crathie Parish Church.
He spoke of her having "demonstrated a life of selfless dedication" to her country and the wider Commonwealth, in a heartwarming tribute.
On Saturday, Greenshields also attended a dinner with the 96-year-old.
He then had a lunch with her, the now- King Charles and Anne, the Princess Royal.
Speaking about this, he told The Times : "It was a fantastic visit. Her memory was absolutely amazing and she was really full of fun.
"It came as a great shock to me when I heard she was gravely ill because she was in amazingly good form over the weekend.
"She was the life and soul of things. She was speaking very personally to me about her time there way back when she was a child, she was talking about her horses from the past, naming them from 40 years ago, people’s names and places. She was quite remarkable."
Recalling his time with the Queen at the weekend, Dr Greenshields went on to tell BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme: "She was in great form, really good spirits - obviously frail, you can see that, but absolutely on the ball.
"She was talking about her past, her love for Balmoral, her father, her mother, Prince Philip, horses, very much very engaged with what was happening in the church and what was happening in the nation too.
"This frail lady came in but there was still that sense of who she was and that real sense of making you feel immediately at ease, engaging with you immediately in conversation, a nice bright smile, everything you would expect of your monarch."
He added: "Her health was frail, we knew that, but when I left her on Sunday she was very positive and I just find it very hard to believe that in those few days things have changed so much."
Yesterday, Greenshields paid a touching tribute to the "faith, service and dedication of Her Majesty the Queen", saying this had been "the hallmark of her long reign".
He added: "She has been the steady constant in the life of our nation for over seven decades and most of us will have grown up knowing only her as our monarch."
Greenshields said: "Tireless in her duty, the Queen has demonstrated a life of selfless dedication.
"Her love for her family was mirrored in her love for our nation and the wider Commonwealth."
Balmoral was one of the Queen's favourite places and she was said to never be happier than when staying there.
He thinks she would have been happy to be there for her final days, adding: "In conversation with her she took me over to the window and she was looking over her gardens with great pride and affection and I think that that's where she would have wanted to spend her last days and I would think the family are comforted by that."
The minister of the parish of Braemar and Crathie and domestic chaplain to the Queen, added that the long-reigning monarch had had a long life "shaped by faith, infused with grace, and characterised by selfless service".
He said: "With people all across this nation and Commonwealth, most of whom have never known life without the Queen, we share an uncommon yet communal sense of loss.
"More specifically perhaps, we who live in this beautiful part of God's creation - a place and a community beloved by the late Queen - have been granted a degree of insight into just how deeply her death will affect each and every member of her family and household."
It comes as the First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, led tributes to the Queen and praised her for her "dedication" and "devotion" after she died at Balmoral in the Scottish Highlands.
After her death was announced, flags at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh were lowered to half mast.
Those at the Scottish Parliament and at Scottish Government buildings were also lowered.
Ms Sturgeon sent her condolences to Charles, who is now King, and to the rest of the royal family.
She said: "Millions around the world will share their grief but only they will feel the loss of a mother and grandmother."
Ms Sturgeon added: "The Queen was unflinching in her dedication to duty, unwavering in her commitment to public service and unmatched in her devotion to the people of this country and the wider Commonwealth.
"We are all saddened by today's news and will come together in the days ahead to mourn. But it is right and proper that we celebrate the unparalleled contribution she made in her 70 years as Sovereign.
"The Queen came to the throne following the Second World War, reigned through decades of social change and lived to be the monarch who opened our Scottish Parliament in the age of devolution."
"Scotland was special to her and she was special to Scotland. Throughout her life, she had a particular fondness for Aberdeenshire and her home there at Balmoral, where she spent her final days."
At the Scottish Parliament, business has now been suspended, on what Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone said was a "day of great sadness for the whole country and a time of deeply personal grief for the Royal Family".
