Queen Elizabeth died of 'old age', says death certificate

Britain's Queen Elizabeth died of old age, according to her death certificate, which was published by the National Records of Scotland on Thursday.

Elizabeth, Britain's longest-reigning monarch, died peacefully at the age of 96 at Balmoral Castle, her summer home in the Scottish highlands, on September 8.

The certificate records her time of death as 3.10 pm (1410 GMT).

Buckingham Palace had released a statement just after 12.30 pm that day to say doctors were concerned about the queen's health and that she would remain under medical supervision. Her death was officially announced at 6.30 pm.

She had carried out her last official duty, appointing Liz Truss as prime minister, just two days earlier.

The queen, who spent 70 years on the throne, had been suffering from what Buckingham Palace had called "episodic mobility problems" since the end of last year, forcing her to withdraw from nearly all her public engagements.

The certificate shows her death was registered by her daughter, Princess Anne, on Sept 16.

The queen had been in declining health since spending an unscheduled night in a private London hospital in October 2021, forcing her to pull out of a string of official engagements.

Buckingham Palace attributed the cancellations to "episodic mobility problems" -- difficulties walking and standing that saw her take to using a stick and even a motorised buggy at public events.

Earlier this year she was laid low by a bout of Covid and later admitted it left her feeling "exhausted".