In January 2012, Peggy misses Pat's funeral as she is on a cruise, and in 2013, Phil visits Peggy in Cornwall with Ben's baby daughter, Lexi Pearce (Dotti-Beau Cotterill). Three months later, Peggy flies into London to visit Phil in hospital, and encourages him to get rid of Carl White (Daniel Coonan) – an ex-conman who seeks to take over the Mitchell business empire. Afterwards, she visits Pat's old house and leaves a bottle of gin on the doorstep as a way of saying goodbye. In September 2014, Peggy appears in Portugal, telling Ronnie to go back to Walford and stop Phil from marrying Sharon. In February 2015, Peggy returns to the square to confront her old friend Dot Cotton (June Brown), after the latter's infamous son Nick (John Altman) cut the brakes on a car and falsely incriminated Phil. She learns from Dot that Nick has died, and comforts her and invites her to move in with her and Grant in Portgual. Peggy is also in on the secret that Ben's mother and Phil's ex-wife, Kathy Sullivan (Gillian Taylforth), had faked her own death ten years ago and wants to return to Walford. Before returning to Portugal, Peggy visits The Queen Vic and meets its new landlord, Mick Carter (Danny Dyer), who tells her to "get out of my pub" - which Peggy was known for saying as landlady.