In a candid revelation, Liz Truss shared that the late Queen offered her the wise counsel to “pace” herself, advice she received during a significant meeting just days before the Queen’s passing in September 2022.
Truss had the poignant encounter with the monarch at Balmoral, a mere 48 hours before the Queen’s death, which also marked a pivotal moment in her brief tenure as the UK Prime Minister.
In her forthcoming memoir, Truss reflects on their 20-minute conversation, admitting she overlooked the Queen’s prudent guidance. Her leadership, lasting just 49 days, was overshadowed by economic instability, including controversial policies that led to a sharp decline in the pound, ultimately resulting in her departure from Downing Street.
Her reflections on the Queen are captured in her book, “Ten Years To Save The West,” set to be serialized exclusively by the Mail starting Saturday. Truss describes the Queen as being remarkably perceptive and quick-witted, fully aware of the current events.
Recounting the final moments of their conversation, Truss notes the Queen’s observation that the role of Prime Minister is notably aging. The monarch left her with the succinct advice: “Pace yourself,” a suggestion Truss now regrets not heeding.
Liz Truss meets Queen Elizabeth II at Balmoral Castle two days before the monarch’s death
‘Ten Years to Save the West’: Former Prime Minister Liz Truss’s new book
‘Towards the end of our discussion, she warned me that being prime minister is incredibly aging. She also gave me two words of advice: “Pace yourself.” Maybe I should have listened.’
Summoned to Scotland due to the Queen’s poor health, Ms Truss described her as ‘frail’ but ‘alert’, ‘absolutely on top’ of things and seemed intent on meeting again.
Liz Truss: A political memoir like no other
In her own words, the dramatic inside story of how she was driven out of Downing Street.
Starts exclusively in Saturday’s Daily Mail.
Liz Truss delivers a speech on her last day as PM, outside No 10 on October 25, 2022
Upon news of the Queen’s death – which came just days after Ms Truss entered No 10 – the former prime minister recalls thinking: ‘Why me? Why now?’
The state ceremony and protocol that followed left her ‘a long way from my natural comfort zone’, she writes. Ms Truss said she broke down ‘into floods of tears on the sofa’. She added: ‘Once again the grief was mixed with a feeling of awe over the sheer weight of the event, and the fact that it was happening on my watch.’
Ms Truss admitted previous prime ministers may have been better suited to the events by providing ‘the soaring rhetoric and performative statesmanship necessary’.
She said that, despite being under massive political pressure, her first meeting with King Charles sparked ‘a bizarre sense of camaraderie between us, with both starting out in our new roles and having to navigate unfamiliar territory’. At the time, Tory MPs had already begun making moves to relieve Ms Truss of her duties. As she curtseyed to Charles, he said: ‘So you’ve come back again?’
Ms Truss replied: ‘It’s a great pleasure,’ but the King added: ‘Dear, oh dear. Anyway…’
In an interview about her book last year with The Mail on Sunday, Ms Truss revealed her former friendship with Kwasi Kwarteng is effectively over.
Ms Truss fired Mr Kwarteng as chancellor in a last-ditch attempt to avert her demise.
Asked whether they are are still in contact, she said: ‘Occasionally. I’m not speaking to him that much.’
