THE Queen has formally appointed Liz Truss as the 56th Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
Her Majesty, 96, and Ms Truss, 47, met at Balmoral Castle in Scotland this lunchtime for a traditional “kissing of the hands” ceremony.
Queen Elizabeth welcomes Liz Truss during an audience at Balmoral Castle
Liz Truss is Britain’s 56th Prime Minister
The Queen smiles as she meets Liz Truss in Balmoral Castle
Liz Truss arrives at Balmoral Castle where she was invited to form a government by the Queen
Liz Truss will deliver her first speech as PM outside No10 this afternoon
Boris and Carrie Johnson arrive at Balmoral castle, where the ex-PM formally resigned
The Queen grinned as she shook hands with Ms Truss – the 15th Prime Minister she has appointed during her 70-year reign.
The new PM made the 500 mile journey by plane from London in stormy conditions, which delayed her arrival.
Inside Balmoral Castle Ms Truss and Her Majesty greeted one another, and completed the official transfer of power over from Boris Johnson.
A spokesperson for the palace said: “The Queen received in Audience The Right Honourable Elizabeth Truss MP today and requested her to form a new Administration.
“Ms Truss accepted Her Majesty’s offer and kissed hands upon her appointment as Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury.”
The ex-PM also held an audience with the Queen for around 40 minutes, where he resigned from the top job.
The palace confirmed “Her Majesty was graciously pleased to accept” his resignation.
When Boris returns to London the ex-PM will be a backbench MP.
Speaking from outside No10 for the final time this morning, Boris said “this is it folks”, before comparing himself to a booster rocket as he said he would re-enter politics “gently”.
Watched on by MP allies, his former No10 staff and wife Carrie, BoJo said: “I am now like one of those booster rockets that has fulfilled its function and I will now be gently re-entering the atmosphere and splashing down invisibly in some remote and obscure corner of the Pacific.”
Today marked the first time the Queen held a so-called kissing of the hands outside London or Windsor.
In 1868, Queen Victoria appointed Benjamin Disraeli at Osborne House, a then-royal residence on the north coast of the Isle of Wight.
And in 1885, Lord Salisbury was appointed at Balmoral while in 1908, King Edward VII appointed H. H. Asquith in a hotel room in the south of France.
It is understood the decision to have the kissing of the hands ceremony at Balmoral was taken to provide certainty to Mr Johnson’s diary and prevent a last-minute change of plans.
Windsor Castle had been earmarked for the traditional constitutional ceremony before Palace officials decided not to move the Queen from Balmoral.
She has been suffering mobility issues for a while, although made a rare appearance on the Palace balcony for the Platinum Jubilee.
Ms Truss is the 15th PM appointed by Her Majesty.
The new Tory leader will return from Scotland today to deliver her debut speech as PM from Downing Street.
The PM is expected to make the address at around 4pm.
Officers guard the gates to Balmoral Castle
Her Majesty is seen leaving Windsor Castle to head to Balmoral in July
The Queen conducting a royal engagement at Windsor Castle in July
The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh with Prince Andrew and Prince Edward at Balmoral
The Queen welcoming Boris Johnson to Buckingham Palace after he was elected PM in 2019
