Former Prime Minister Liz Truss has opened up on the moment she found out the Queen had died - as well as revealing what happened behind the scenes on the day.
Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral Castle one year ago today - on September 8 2022. She had reigned as monarch for more than 70 years.
Ms Truss was just days into her job as Prime Minister when she was first told the Queen, who was 96, was unwell. Speaking to GB News Ms Truss, who was in office for just 44 days, said she was told of a worsening situation on September 7 when a Privy Council meeting was postponed.
Join our WhatsApp Top Stories and Breaking News group by clicking this link
Ms Truss said: "I arrived just before 6pm for the meeting. Everybody was there waiting around and we waited for a few minutes and then the news arrived that the Queen would no longer be able to do the meeting. And that was the first I heard of it. But clearly it was a very ominous sign,” she told GB News’ royal correspondent Cameron Walker.
She said of September 8: “Things were clearly getting even worse the next day, so it was a dawning realisation I think, not just for me, but for my colleagues, that we were facing (it).”
Ms Truss was in the House of Commons chamber for an energy debate at around midday that day when the then-chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Nadhim Zahawi sat down next to her with a note and began urgently whispering to her.
The original plan was for Buckingham Palace to release a statement about the late Queen’s health at 11.15am, but it was delayed.
Mr Zahawi’s note contained a statement for Ms Truss to read out to the Commons if required.
Ms Truss left the chamber and headed back to Downing Street. The Palace then released a statement saying Queen Elizabeth II was under medical supervision at 12.32pm.
Ms Truss said she was really just waiting for the news and by that point knew it was “very, very serious”. She was in Number 10 when she was told the Queen had died at around 4.30pm.
Describing the scene in Number 10 when confirmation of the late Queen’s death reached them at around 4.30pm. A public announcement of the Queen's death was made two hours later.
Ms Truss said: “We were in the Downing Street flat with officials, other people. So when the news came through, it was sort of confirming all the worst fears that we’d had.”
Ms Truss said she felt very sad about the situation, but her mind also turned to the practicalities of the days to come and what she had to do.
She said: "Just knowing that I would have to deal with it. You know, part of your brain is thinking, my goodness me, this is a momentous occasion. This is our Queen who’s been on the throne for 70 years, the absolute backdrop to our lives is now gone.
“But also, I tend to focus on the practical in those types of moments and just thinking right, I need to make sure my speech is ready. I need to make sure the right people are informed. I needed to make sure that the Cabinet ministers responsible for organising (were ready for) what was going to be a massive international occasion.”
A pre-arranged statement for a sitting prime minister to read in the event of the monarch’s death had long been drafted, but was reportedly out of date in tone so Ms Truss rewrote it.
“I wanted to say it in my own words so I drafted it with a speech writer,” she said.
She spoke to the King the same day and offered her “sincere condolences” and said that during the brief phone call he was “very, very resolute”.
She added of the new monarch: “King Charles is somebody who’d also been a very prominent part of British life. I think we’ve seen the continuity …
“I think because both of us were stepping into new roles, a lot of what you’re thinking about is the practicalities of getting things done.”
When the King held his first weekly audience with Ms Truss on October 12, he welcomed her to the Palace by saying: “Back again? Dear oh dear.”
Mr Truss insisted it was a joke and said the pair were at their third meeting that day.
The Queen died just two days after meeting Ms Truss in Balmoral Castle to appoint her prime minister following the resignation of Boris Johnson.
Ms Truss described the sovereign as appearing “frail” at their meeting on Septmeber 6 - but she said she was “mentally alert” and “absolutely on top of” and that there was no indication the late Queen was gravely ill.
Ms Truss said: “In the meeting at Balmoral, she was absolutely on top of what was happening.
“She was very, very keen to reassure me that we’d be meeting again soon. It was very important to her.”
The former PM added: "I was obviously only in the first few days of the job of being prime minister. I was thinking about many, many different things,” she said.
“But the assumption absolutely was that this would be the first of many meetings.”
The monarch, using a walking stick, was pictured smiling warmly as she greeted Ms Truss in front of an open fire in her sitting room at the castle, appearing frail but bright-eyed and wearing a blouse, cardigan, and a skirt of Balmoral tartan.
Ms Truss added: “She was very determined to do her duty, right to the end. We had a very, very good meeting. She was upbeat.”
Paying tribute to the late monarch Ms Truss said Queen Elizabeth II was “still very, very, very loved and treasured”.
She added: "And she was still very much with us until the end, absolutely."
“And that’s what just struck me about her is that right until that moment, she wanted to be there doing her duty.”
