King Charles went foraging for mushrooms in the woods as his mother Queen Elizabeth’s life “ebbed away,” according to royal biographer Robert Jobson. In an extract from his book Our King, published in the Mail, Jobson writes that Charles was first alerted to his mother’s deteriorating health on September 7, the night before she died. The next morning he flew by helicopter from his Birkhall estate to Balmoral. Charles sat at her bedside with Princess Anne, then—with “no immediate reason for alarm”—returned to Birkhall for a walk in the woods.

Jobson writes, “As the queen’s life ebbed away, her heir was foraging for mushrooms. More importantly, he was drawing solace and strength from the trees, the smell of the earth and the murmur of the River Muick. Understandably lost in thought, the prince knew that the defining moment of his life, at the advanced age of 73, was fast approaching: the death of his mother and his accession as King.” One of his personal protection officers told Charles the queen’s health had dramatically worsened, Jobson writes, and Charles rushed to be at her bedside before she died on September 8, at 3.10pm British time. Also there: his wife Camilla, Anne—“who had never left her mother’s side”—and the queen’s doctor of 30 years, GP James Glass.