‘I was so shocked,’ Liz Truss says as she reveals Queen’s parting words to her in their final meeting
Scroll down to read about the late Queen's final days
QUEEN Elizabeth’s poignant last recorded words are revealed by The Sun today.
Speaking to the last of 15 Prime Ministers who served her, the late monarch told Liz Truss at Balmoral: “I’ll see you again next week.”
But it was not to be, with the Queen passing away just two days later.
Ex-PM Truss tells this week’s Her Majesty was the pinnacle of duty to the very end, adding: “She was an extremely wise woman and so, so on the ball.”
She had flown Scotland to kiss the ring as new PM, after seeing off Rishi Sunak in the Tory leadership contest in summer 2022.
Lifting the lid on their first and final meeting as Monarch and premier, Truss says: “She talked a lot about all of the issues that were going on, all of the issues in the PM’s inbox.
“She was amazingly across absolutely everything that was going on.”
Britain’s longest-serving monarch died on 8 September 2022, two days after she had met Truss to appoint her Prime Minister.
Just 44 days later she would inform new King Charles that she would be resigning after a run on the Pound in the fallout of her mini-Budget.
Truss now has a new book out called 10 Years to Save the West – where she blames the Treasury, Bank of England and even Joe Biden for having a hand in her downfall.
In the book she reflects more on her appointment by Queen Elizabeth.
She writes the monarch was “standing up as she greeted me in her drawing room”.
Truss continued: “I was told she’d made a special effort to do so but she gave no hint of discomfort throughout our discussion.
“This was only my second one-on-one audience with her. On the previous occasion, after I’d been removed from a different job in the government, she’d remarked that being a woman in politics was tough.
“For about 20 minutes, we discussed politics – and it was clear she was completely attuned to everything that was happening, as well as being typically sharp and witty. There simply wasn’t any sense that the end would come as quickly as it did.”
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She adds: “I knew I’d never forget my last meeting with Her Majesty – and especially what she said towards the end of our talk in her drawing room.
“Being Prime Minister, she warned me, is incredibly ageing. She also gave me two words of advice: ‘Pace yourself.’
“Maybe I should have listened.”
Later in the book Truss recalls becoming overwhelmed with emotion and breaking down in tears as the PM in charge during the massive national moment.
Liz Truss shortest serving Prime Minister in British history
By ED SOUTHGATE
LIZ Truss became the shortest-serving Prime Minister in British history by 74 days.
The fallen Tory leader’s 49 days in office is more than two months short of George Canning’s 118 days.
The fellow Tory’s time in office was cut short when he died from tuberculosis in 1827. Ms Truss would have overtaken him on January 3, 2023.
Her time in office also included a 10-day national mourning period for the Queen’s death, when politics was paused.
She resigned on October 20, 2022 after losing the confidence of her own MPs and the markets during a period of economic turmoil and U-turns.
It meant King Charles was already set for his second Prime Minister just six weeks after ascending to the throne.
And the country saw its third Prime Minister in four months.
The week before she resigned, Truss sacked humiliated Kwasi Kwarteng over their chaotic mini-budget. It made him our second-ever shortest-serving Chancellor.
Ms Truss said as she stood outside No10 Downing Street that she was elected on a mandate to change “a time of great economic and international instability”.
But she admitted: “I recognise, given the situation, I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party.”
Ms Truss had promised a “bold plan” to cut taxes and grow the economy and “deliver on the energy crisis”.
But the mini-budget, unveiled four days after the Queen’s funeral, with its plans to abolish the top rate of income tax for the highest earners sent the markets into turmoil.
Ms Truss insisted she stood by the package but in the end sacked her chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, whose successor, Jeremy Hunt, ripped up the controversial budget by reversing most of the measures.
She writes that the “machine kicked into action” as “frantic”news emerged from Buckingham Palace that the Queen’s health was deteriorating.
Truss continued: “My black mourning dress was fetched from my house in Greenwich, south London. I started to think about what on earth I was going to say if the unthinkable happened.
“On Thursday, we received the solemn news that the Queen had died peacefully at Balmoral.
“To be told this on only my second full day as prime minister felt utterly unreal. In a state of shock, I found myself thinking: ‘Why me, why now?’”
She recalls being “overcome by a profound sense of sadness” and breaking down in “floods of tears on the sofa” when watching the Queen’s coffin return to London the following weekend.
Inside Queen’s final days at Balmoral
By SARAH GREALISH
THE Queen spent her final days at Balmoral having fun with family, reading the Racing Post and watching TV with staff.
Her Majesty passed away on September 8, 2022 in the royal retreat where she spent many happy summers with her beloved Philip.
She spent her final hours in the bosom of her family, in the place she was the most at home.
In the wake of her death it was revealed how she’d spent her final “fun” days.
The Queen spent three months every summer at the Scottish castle and would “kick off her shoes” and relax.
This 50,000-acre estate beside the River Dee in the Scottish Highlands is where she could be a mum, and a wife – a world away from life as the most famous woman on the planet.
She arrived at Balmoral for the last time on July 23, 2022 – her second summer without Prince Philip.
She flew by private helicopter and was expected to stay until October to take some time away from royal duties.
Her Majesty first stayed in the seven-bedroom Craigowan Lodge on Royal Deeside, before moving a mile down the road to live in Balmoral Castle on August 9.
Here she stayed with her beloved staff, including Page of the Backstairs Paul Whybrew – who is 6ft 6in and nicknamed Tall Paul – and her Serjeant-at-Arms Barry Mitford.
The pair would bring the life-long horse fan the Racing Post every morning before sitting down to watch some TV.
And her righthand woman and best friend, Angela Kelly, who worked as the Queen’s personal assistant and dresser was with her until the very end.
Right up until her death the Queen welcomed visitors who kept her company.
The last weekend before she died Dr Iain Greenshields, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, stayed with her at the castle.
He said she was in “really good spirits” and told how he was moved by how she spoke about her beloved Prince Philip.
They had dinner together on the Saturday and lunch on Sunday – and even eerily brushed on the subject of afterlife.
And he said the Queen seemed to be delighted to be spending time at her beloved highland home.
He said: “In conversation with her, she took me over to the window and she was looking over her gardens with great pride and affection.
“And I think that’s where she would have wanted to spend her last days and I would think the family are comforted by that.”
She then went on to “reflect on life” as they discussed her faith and the afterlife.
Two days later, on September 6, the Queen hosted an audience with new Prime Minister Liz Truss.
Photos showed the pair in the castle for the traditional “kissing of the hands” ceremony.
Truss was the Queen’s 15th Prime Minister during her more than 70 years as Monarch.
Photos showed her smiling in the green drawing room as she chatted with Truss for 30 minutes.
Two days after, on September 8, the Queen died “peacefully” at Balmoral.
The King and Princess Anne both managed to make it to her bedside before she died.
Senior royals faced a grim race against time to say goodbye after doctors shared the tragic news Her Majesty had just hours to live.
Sadly just two of the Queen’s four children were able to make it to her bedside in Balmoral in time.
Princess Anne and King Charles were in Scotland on royal business already when the heartbreaking news was announced.
