Liz Truss has revealed the late Queen's final words to her in their first and only official meeting. Queen Elizabeth II is said to have told the then-prime minister: "I'll see you next week" as they met at Balmoral on September 6, 2022, just two days before the monarch's death.
Some 15 prime ministers led the country during Elizabeth II's reign, with Ms Truss being the last of them. The late Queen's meeting with Ms Truss was her final official engagement, after the South West Norfolk MP was made leader of the Conservative party.
The short-lived prime minister oversaw the period of national mourning which followed the monarch's death, before she resigned after seven weeks in the job amid the economic fallout of her mini budget. In an interview with the Sun newspaper's Never Mind the Ballots programme, the ex-prime minister also revealed some of what she discussed with the Queen during their meeting.
"She was an extremely wise woman and so, so on the ball," Ms Truss said. She added: "She talked a lot about all of the issues that were going on, all of the issues in the PM's inbox."
Ms Truss, who is touring the media ahead of the publication of her book Ten Years To Save The West, revealed she thought: "Why me, why now?" when she learned the Queen had died just two days into her premiership. She said she went into "a state of shock" when told of Elizabeth II's death in 2022 in an extract of her book published on Mail+.
Recounting her audience with the Queen, Ms Truss said there "simply wasn't any sense that the end would come as quickly as it did". Ms Truss, whose tenure in Downing Street lasted just 49 days after her mini budget triggered economic turmoil, also revealed the late Queen told her to "pace yourself".
"Maybe I should have listened," the former Tory leader said. Ms Truss's government later unveiled a radical tax-cutting policy agenda that tanked the pound and saw her ejected from office after just 49 days, making her Britain's shortest-serving prime minister.
