LIZ Truss will be officially appointed Britain’s Prime Minister today after an audience with the Queen.
The short ceremony will combine almost a century of precedent with a historic first as Her Majesty anoints her first premier from Balmoral.
The Queen will appoint her 15th PM today
Liz Truss has landed to Balmoral today to become PM
Boris Johnson arrives at Balmoral to resign as PM
Ms Truss is the 96-year-old monarch’s 15th PM but the only one to be formally appointed by her in her Scottish Highlands Estate.
Almost all have been sworn in at Buckingham Palace, but the event was moved to save the Queen travelling 500 miles back to London with her ongoing mobility issues.
After touching down in Aberdeen amid foggy conditions, Ms Truss and a small team of aides and security will drive to the castle for a midday audience with the Queen.
Boris Johnson would have just left after formally tendering his resignation as the country’s 55th PM.
Both are expected to meet the Queen in Balmoral’s drawing room, a grand cavernous room decorated in striking blue and green.
When she first greets the Queen, she will be introduced as “Ms Truss” as she will have not officially become PM yet.
The ceremonial process of becoming premier is known as the “kissing of the hands” – a light brush – although no physical contact will actually take place.
Long-standing Cabinet Minister Ms Truss is already a Privy Councillor and so had done the ceremony before.
Ms Truss will likely touch hands with the Queen as Mr Johnson did in 2019, although as Britain’s third female PM she is expected to curtsey rather than bow.
Although Buckingham Palace will not release details of the meeting, Ms Truss and the Queen will likely have a short conversation.
From now on they will have an audience each Wednesday evening to discuss the ongoings of Her Majesty’s government.
At the end of the audience, Ms Truss will be referred to by royal courtiers as “Prime Minister” and will make her way back to Westminster.
The Queen’s last public engagement in July
