Liz Trusswill forever connectQueen Elizabeth IIandKing Charles III.
Truss, 47,announced her resignationas Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Thursday, telling the press outside 10 Downing Street that she notified the King of her intent to step down and would continue her duties until a new Conservative Party leader is chosen in the coming days.
The meeting would beQueen Elizabeth’s last formal duty as sovereign. On Sept. 8, the palace announced that the history-making monarch died “peacefully” at age 96, hours after her doctors announced they were “concerned” for her health.
Jane Barlow/AP/Shutterstock; Yui Mok/AP/Shutterstock
That day, Truss issued a heartfelt statement praising the late Queen as “the very spirit of Great Britain” and “rock” of her realm. On Sept. 9, shemet withKing Charles, who immediately acceded his mother as monarch. Truss went on to attend theaccessionof King Charles, where she signed the formal proclamation declaring him King, and the Queen’sstate funeralon Sept. 19 in her position as prime minister.
Queen Elizabeth and Liz Truss.Jane Barlow/AP/Shutterstock
WithQueen Elizabeth’s death and King Charles' accession, Truss became the first U.K. prime minister since Winston Churchill to serve under two different monarchs. Churchill served as prime minister from 1940 to 1945, then again from 1951 to 1955 alongside King George VI,Queen Elizabeth’s father who died in 1952.
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The Queen was quite fond of Churchill and sent him a handwritten letter upon his retirement. In it, she said no one “will ever for me be able to hold the place of my first prime minister, to whom both my husband and I owe so much and for whose wise guidance during the early years of my reign I shall always be so profoundly grateful,” according toYahoo.
Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Queen Elizabeth and Winston Churchill.Central Press/Getty
Though King Charles has yet to comment on Truss' resignation, their recent meeting made headlines for its awkward start. The two convened at Buckingham Palace on Oct. 13 for theirfirst weekly audience, and the monarch muttered, “Dear, oh dear,” while welcoming the prime minister into the room.
While many wondered if the King’s remark was political, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly told U.K. station LBC radio that it wasn’t so.
“I view it as much more an empathetic statement,” Cleverly said, perPolitico.“He recognizes that all of us — everyone in the country — is dealing with a really tough winter ahead.”
Kirsty O’Connor/AP/Shutterstock
Soon into her tenure, Truss' critics argued she wasn’t doing enough tothwart a financial crisis.
The politician faced low approval ratings after the British government announced tax cuts that would largely favor the wealthy — an announcement that caused the value of the pound to plunge while borrowing costs spiked.
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Kirsty O’Connor - WPA Pool/Getty
As the economy suffered, Truss' finance minister announced that the government would abandon the tax plan altogether, but some argued the Conservatives’power was abandonedwith it.
Truss succeeded former Prime MinisterBoris Johnson. She previously served as Britain’s Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs and Minister for Women and Equalities since 2019.
source: people.com
