Historical week in the UK. The country changed within three days of Head of Government and Head of State (the monarch is the constitutional head of state in the UK).
The change at the head of the Government was expected since the announcement of Boris Johnson’s resignation as Prime Minister in July. After campaigning against former finance minister Rishi Sunak, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss was named leader of the Conservative Party by her supporters on Monday.
Liz Truss met Queen Elizabeth on Tuesday at Scotland’s Balmoral Castle and was formally appointed prime minister there.
“The Queen received Elizabeth Truss MP in audience today and asked her to form a new government,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Madame Truss accepted Her Majesty’s offer and kissed her hands to mark her appointment as Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury,” it added, using the figurative expression that describes the ceremony.
He was the 15th Prime Minister that the sovereign met in 70 years of reign.
Carlos III, new king
This Thursday, with the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the United Kingdom also changed its sovereign: Prince Charles, who became Charles III, will now sit on the throne.
The world’s most famous monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, has died “peacefully” at the age of 96 at her Scottish residence in Balmoral, Buckingham Palace said in a brief statement.
“Her Majesty the Queen’s death is a huge shock to the nation and the world. Queen Elizabeth II was the rock on which modern Britain was built,” Liz Truss said in a speech last night.
“Today the Crown passes -as it has done for more than a thousand years- to our new monarch, our new Head of State: His Majesty King Carlos III”, added the new Prime Minister.
Back in London with Camilla, now the queen consort, the new king will address Britons for the first time on television, in a pre-recorded message broadcast on Tuesday night. He must also meet with Liz Truss, who will thus have met two sovereigns in less than a week.
Source: BFM TV
