A clergyman who spent last weekend with the Queen has told The Times he was shocked to hear of her death as she'd been on 'amazingly good form' when he saw her.
The UK's longest reigning monarch died at Balmoral on Thursday afternoon, aged 96. In a statement confirming her death, Buckingham Palace wrote: "The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow."
It came shortly after the Palace announced Queen Elizabeth was under 'medical supervision' due to concerns over her health - as members of the Royal Family travelled to the Scottish castle to be by her side.
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Her son Charles III has now been named King. In a statement released shortly after news of her death was announced, Charles III said: "Charles, the King, said: "The death of my beloved mother, Her Majesty The Queen, is a moment of the greatest sadness for me and all members of my family."
The Rt Rev Dr Iain Greenshields, 68, stayed with the Queen at Balmoral after being invited to perform a sermon at Braemer and Crathie Parish Church last weekend, where Her Majesty worshipped while at the castle, the Times reports.
Greenshields, a Kirk minister and moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, had dinner on Saturday evening and lunch on Sunday afternoon with the Queen, the Prince of Wales and the Princess Royal. 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.
"For someone of her age, to have the memory she had, and genuinely laughing and very much enjoying having her family and the whole occasion. She was great company. She couldn’t come to the sermon because of her mobility, so Charles came instead.
"She was amazing just around the people, gathering everyone together, conversing widely, she very much impressed me as a very capable. We were talking about Ukraine and the situation there and her sadness at what she was seeing happening.
"She was talking about church affairs, she was very apprised of everything going on in the Church of Scotland, which would put a lot of our members to shame, she probably knew a lot more than the average member."
The previous weekend, the Very Rev Dr Martin Fair, 58, who has been minister at Arbroath St Andrews for 30 years, stayed as her guest at Balmoral.
He said: "I found her to be bright and in very good spirits, so I was sad to hear the announcement about her deterioration. We were in her sitting room and in the dining room as part of a family gathering — it was a privilege to be part of it.
"She was absolutely switched on about everything, current affairs and historical memories. She was on very good form.
"I had been once before in 2014. The first time I was a bit of a nervous wreck but going on a second time I knew it would be fine because she put me at such ease. She’s clearly a woman who had a strong faith and that very much matters to her. She wanted to know about the service, she was very switched on."
A 10-day period of mourning began at midnight and will last until the Queen’s funeral. Also on Friday King Charles is expected to meet with Prime Minister Liz Truss today. He will make a televised address to the nation, which he is due to pre-record. The King will pay tribute to the Queen and pledge his duty to his service as the new sovereign.
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