Queen Elizabeth II Appoints New Prime Minister at Balmoral Castle
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Queen Elizabeth continues to experience mobility issues.
Queen Elizabeth II has appointed Liz Truss as the 15th prime minister who has taken office during her 70-year reign.
Truss, 47, follows Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May to become Britain's third female premier.
But in a break with royal tradition the meeting took place at Balmoral Castle in Scotland instead of Buckingham Palace in London.
The decision was made amid concerns for the 96-year-old monarch’s health as she continues to experience mobility issues.
Truss defeated rival Rishi Sunak as the race for the Conservative leadership continues in the wake of Boris Johnson’s announcement several months ago that he would be stepping down from the post.
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The queen also missed the Braemar Gathering in Scotland this weekend, a Highland Games event that she usually attends during her annual summer vacation at Balmoral Castle.
Her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria began the tradition of attending the gathering in 1848.
The queen’s son Prince Charles attended in her stead.
August marks the beginning of the queen’s annual trip to her Scottish retreat, where she usually stays until October and receives various members of the royal family as guests.
However, when her vacation comes to an end this year she won’t be returning to Buckingham Palace in the heart of London—in March it was announced that the monarch would "never again" reside at Buckingham Palace, and had decided to make Windsor Castle her "forever home."
Buckingham Palace has an estimated worth of $4.9 billion, has 775 rooms, and had been the official home of the reigning British monarch since the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837.
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Windsor—just half an hour's drive outside London—is where Prince Philip spent the last few months of his life before dying at the age of 99 in April 2021.
The Windsor estate is also home to Adelaide Cottage, Prince William and Duchess Kate’s new four-bedroom home.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are preparing to relocate from Kensington Palace to Adelaide Cottage this week with their three children—Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis—enrolled at the nearby Lambrook School.
The private co-educational school is nestled within “52 acres of idyllic Berkshire countryside.”
The cost of sending their three children to Lambrook—which the BBC reports features a “25-metre swimming pool, a nine-hole golf course, an orchard with bees, chickens and pigs”—will cost Kate and William in excess of £50,000 ($59,000) per year.
