A week ago, Monday September 5, Liz Truss was a prominent minister, favorite to succeed Boris Johnson. Her victory proclaimed, she flies to Balmoral to meet the Queen. The new head of government is then far from suspecting that the sovereign is living her last days. The photo of their handshake will however be the last of the monarch.
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Back at 10 Downing Street, Liz Truss speaks her first words as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom: “I have just accepted Her Majesty The Queen’s kind invitation to form a new government.”
She learns the news in full speech
Liz Truss forms her government and must face the opposition in front of the House of Commons. Thursday, it presents a plan to fight against soaring energy prices, a capital measure. But she blanched when she read a note. She learns that Elizabeth II is in bad shape. A few hours later, the Prime Minister gave a new speech in front of Downing Street: “We are all devastated by the information that has just reached us from Balmoral…“
On behalf of a grieving nation I offer my deepest condolences on the passing of Her Majesty.
She was the rock on which modern Britain was built.
The thoughts of this government and this nation are with His Majesty The King and his family. pic.twitter.com/1tUra5luLf
— Liz Truss (@trussliz) September 9, 2022
Liz Truss is one of the first to meet the new king at Buckingham Palace. At the heart of all the ceremonies, Liz Truss has just experienced a week in accelerated. She is preparing to receive heads of state from around the world for the Queen’s funeral. The head of government would almost forget that she has a country to recover from the crisis and social anger to appease.