Former Prime Minister Liz Truss
In her book she writes about meeting the Queen
On September 6, 2022, Queen Elizabeth II received Liz Truss at Balmoral Castle to appoint her as Prime Minister. Just two days later, the monarch died in her Scottish residence.
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Former Prime Minister Liz Truss was one of the last people to meet Elizabeth II. She remembers the encounter in a book.
Liz Truss (48) reveals that Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022) advised her to slow down at their first and last meeting as Prime Minister. In her new book “Ten Years to Save the West”, the politician also admits that she did not follow the monarch’s advice.
“Sharp and funny”
The historic encounter took place on September 6, 2022 at Balmoral Castle – two days before the death of Queen Elizabeth II. The last public photo of the monarch was taken. Smiling and leaning on a walking stick, the Queen had greeted Liz Truss to appoint her as Prime Minister. “We spent about 20 minutes discussing politics. She had a feel for everything that was happening and was also sharp and funny,” writes Liz Truss in the book, which will be released in the UK and US on April 16th.
“Towards the end of our discussion she warned me that the office of prime minister is incredibly aging.” The Queen then gave her advice to slow down a bit. A recommendation that she didn’t follow: “Maybe I should have listened to her,” Truss admits in the book. The conservative politician was Prime Minister for only six weeks and announced her resignation on October 24, 2022. She made history in her home country with the shortest term in office.
Death of the Queen a “deep shock”
When she met the Queen at Balmoral, she was frailer than before, but very “alert”. She didn’t expect the queen to die so soon afterwards. The news was a “deep shock” for her, as she describes in her book. She also asked herself: “Why me? Why now?” After all, she was only in the first days of her term in office and did not expect that she would immediately be confronted with such a significant event.