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Queen Elizabeth II had one final, deeply personal priority in what would become her last summer - making sure her great-grandchildren would remember her with joy.
As her health quietly declined in 2022, the late monarch focused not on ceremony, but on creating lasting moments with the youngest members of the royal family at Balmoral Castle, according to a new book by royal biographer Robert Hardman via The Daily Mail.
"The Queen wanted all the great-grandchildren to come up to Balmoral at some point over that summer, even if the Sussexes might not be able to make it," Hardman wrote in "Elizabeth II: In Private. In Public. The Inside Story," in an excerpt published April 6.
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At the time, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were living in California after stepping back from royal duties, though they had returned to the U.K. weeks earlier with their children for Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
"'She wanted to make sure that they all had a really happy memory of her,' explained a friend of the family," Hardman wrote.
Even as the end of her reign approached, Queen Elizabeth was carefully shaping how she would be remembered.
"Queen Elizabeth was blessed in that in her final months, when her health declined, she was able to put things, as she saw them, in order," royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told Fox News Digital. "She knew her time had its limits and wanted all her great-grandchildren to have a happy memory of her."
Fitzwilliams noted that Balmoral, long considered the Queen's sanctuary, was a natural setting for such moments.
"She thought Balmoral, which she loved, would be the ideal setting, and George, Charlotte and Louis made the trip in August with their parents, shortly before her death," he said. "Harry and Meghan brought Archie and Lilibet over for her Platinum Jubilee. She was unselfish to the last, but extremely conscious of the importance of happy memories in the minds of the young."
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British royals expert Hilary Fordwich said the reported wish is entirely in keeping with the Queen's lifelong sense of duty - and devotion to others.
"As always, this is totally consistent with her 21st birthday declaration during her radio address on April 21, 1947, when the then-Princess Elizabeth pledged, 'I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong,'" Fordwich told Fox News Digital.
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"She was always thinking of others, she was always planning and she was always thinking of the future," she added. "No doubt in her final days it was those closest to her heart too, that she wanted to ensure she could impart some of these high esteemed values, hence wanting them to remember."
By the time of her death in September 2022, the Queen had 12 great-grandchildren - among them Prince William and Princess Kate's brood, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
The next royal generation has continued to grow, with two additional great-grandchildren born: Princess Eugenie's second son, Ernest Brooksbank, and Princess Beatrice's second daughter, Athena.
Balmoral Castle, one of the only residences she personally owned, had for generations served as the royal family's escape.
In her final months, it took on added meaning - a private sanctuary where Queen Elizabeth focused on creating lasting, personal memories with the youngest members of her royal family.
