In an exclusive interview the former Prime Minister reveals : ‘She was absolutely mentally alert and remained determined to do her duty until the end’, she said.
Queen Elizabeth II poignantly told Liz Truss they’d “meet again soon” when she welcomed her as the new Prime Minister at Balmoral.
In a moving interview with GB News to mark the anniversary of her death, the former Prime Minister opened up about that now historic meeting – which happened just two days before the Queen’s death.
Speaking exclusively to GB News’ Royal Correspondent, Cameron Walker, 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.
“I’d met the Queen before when I was Justice Secretary. I’ve met her on several occasions. And although she was physically quite frail, she was always absolutely mentally alert and determined to do her duty.
“I was obviously only in the first few days of the job of being Prime Minister. I was thinking about many, many different things. But the assumption absolutely was that this would be the first of many meetings.”
Commenting on the famous photo of them meeting, Ms Truss continued in an interview aired on Dan Wooton Tonight: “She was very determined to do her duty, right to the end. We had a very, very good meeting. She was upbeat.”
Reflecting on the days leading up to the Queen’s death, Ms Truss said the first sign that something was wrong was when the Queen missed a meeting of the Privy Council.
“I arrived just before 6.00pm for the meeting,” she told GB News. “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.”
Asked how aware she was of plans for her funeral, she said: “I was given briefings and of course I’ve been aware of the program in the previous roles that I’d done. So, I understood what was happening. But there’s a big difference between a plan written on the page and then the thing that we didn’t want to happen was actually happening.
“Over the course of those few days the news just kept getting worse. It was a dawning realisation I think, not just for me, but for my colleagues, that we were facing [it].”
“The news was getting worse, and it was clear that we were talking about days rather than weeks. That’s what I recollect. And it was when I was in the Commons chamber, having just given the opening remarks in a debate about the energy package that Nadhim Zahawi came in with a note which essentially, you know, indicated things were getting worse.
“I knew that she was seriously ill. I think I didn’t know how imminent the end was. I obviously headed back to Number 10 and by then the news was getting worse and worse.”
Asked what she said to Mr Zahawi, Ms Truss said: “I just expressed concern and I think pretty soon after that I had to head out to deal with the issue…
“I had various other issues to deal with as well at the time and really just waiting, waiting for the news. But I think by that point we knew it was very, very serious.
“I knew I would have to address the nation. I knew the situation was very, very serious, and it was really just getting through those crucial moments and making sure that we did all we could to pay tribute to the Queen, but also to make sure there was a smooth transition to support the new King.
She said she was told about her death later in the day: “We were in the Downing St. flat with, you know, officials, other, other people. So when the news came through, it was sort of confirming all the worst fears that we’d had.
“I felt very, very sad about the situation. But also 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.
Ms Truss said she started thinking about her speech and then spoke to the King: “I wanted to say it in my own words. So I drafted it with a speech writer to say what I felt in my own words.”
Ms Truss said the King seemed “very resolute” on the phone before they met the following day.
She said: “I met him on several occasions before and he is somebody who does his duty. And there had been a lot of preparations, of course.”
Asked about the differences between the two monarchs, she said: “I don’t think I saw enough of the Queen, frankly, to be able to make that judgment. She is somebody who had been on the throne for many, many years. She was such a part of our national life, we just celebrated the Platinum Jubilee. And 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.
Recalling the national outpouring of grief she said: “The crowds were lined up everywhere we went, whether it was Edinburgh, Belfast, Cardiff, there were huge crowds of people on the street near the coffin arriving in London. I remember that that was very poignant. Just to think that this really was the end of such an important era.
On the Queen’s legacy, Ms Truss said: “Well, I think she was such a major figure, not just for Britain but for the whole post war era and she represents that continuity and that huge hope people had for the future after what was a terrible war and an era of peace and prosperity, and I think she represented that.
“One of the main things people ask me is, ‘how was she?’ She’s still very, very, very loved and treasured. 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.”
Source: GB News
