It must be said that British news is currently busy, with the departure of Boris Johnson, replaced by Liz Truss. The Queen received the first for her resignation and then her successor, whom she officially appointed as Prime Minister. Footage released by the palace showed the 96-year-old sovereign, smiling and leaning on a cane, shaking hands with the new ruler, who became the 15th head of government in her 70-year reign.
Receiving the new head of government at Balmoral was a first for Elizabeth II, who is struggling to get around: the monarch traditionally receives new prime ministers at Buckingham Palace in London. The postponed meeting on Wednesday was a Privy Council, a royal advisory body that can be attended by hundreds of people, including political and religious leaders. During this Council, Liz Truss along with the new ministers should have been sworn in and also should have been appointed Privy Councilors if they had not already been in the past.
Since a night in the hospital almost a year ago for examinations never specified, the queen, in declining health, shows herself more and more rarely. She delegates an increasing part of her functions to her son Charles, who notably delivered in May in her place for the first time the speech from the throne in Parliament, one of her essential constitutional functions.
In early June, the British had celebrated for four days the 70 years of reign of Elizabeth II, who is the oldest monarch in the world in office. The mother of Prince Charles remained almost absent from this platinum jubilee, showing only twice briefly on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in front of tens of thousands of people and in the presence of his famous descendants. A few weeks later, however, William and Harry’s grandmother showed up several times for public appearances in Scotland, appearing smiling and with a cane during an armed forces parade in Edinburgh at the end of June.