- Sunday, March 09, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
Both of them took their respective charges around the same time. But with one of them, Liz Truss, now having quit her post, the other — British monarch King Charles III — is now set to welcome the second prime minister of his tenure next week.
On Thursday (20), Truss announced her resignation amid a snowballing political crisis, meaning she was in charge of the government for only 45 days, the shortest in Britain’s history.
King Charles III, on the other hand, also took up the reins in early September (two days after Truss became the prime minister on September 6) after Queen Elizabeth II passed away. He had a very few audiences with the outgoing prime minister, something that the monarch and the premier carry out once a week, UK newspaper The Daily Mirror reported.
The king’s first weekly audience with Truss took place just a week ago at Buckingham Palace, even though it was not the first time that they had met following the death of the previous monarch, the daily reported.
And that meeting will go down in history for King Charles III’s reportedly edged comment to Truss, who was fighting a massive political pressure then.
The outgoing prime minister met the king after she was escorted into the room where he was present. After the duo shook hands, Charles asked Truss: “Back again?”
“It’s a great pleasure,” the latter responded.
“Dear oh dear, anyway,” the king muttered.
Truss: “Your Majesty… Lovely to see you again.”
King: “Back again. Dear oh dear. Anyway…”
This is one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen. ??pic.twitter.com/ENP8pPl9kO
— Brendan May (@bmay) October 12, 2022
Charles had his first in-person audience with Trust at Buckingham Palace on September 9, the day after the passing of his mother.
“Your Majesty, my very greatest sympathies,” Truss said.
“You are very kind. It was the moment I have been dreading, as I know a lot of people have. We’ll try to keep everything going. Come, come have a seat,” Charles said in response.
The next day, Truss participated in the historic Accession Council where Charles was formally proclaimed as the King. The same day, he held an audience with Truss and members of her Cabinet at the Palace.
On September 18, the day before the Queen’s funeral, the King held another audience with Truss. He was seen smiling broadly and greeting the outgoing prime minister with his arms wide open, The Daily Mirror reported.
On October 2, Truss had objected to the King attending the Cop27 meeting in Egypt in November, The Daily Mirror reported citing The Sunday Times.
It further reported that Charles, who as the Prince of Wales has been an enthusiastic campaigner on climate change, sought advice from the government and it was agreed that this would not be the right time for him to make his maiden overseas visit as sovereign.
In her resignation letter, Truss said she had informed King Charles III of her decision to step down:
“I have therefore spoken to His Majesty The King to notify him that I am resigning as Leader of the Conservative Party,” she said.
