Queen breaks major UK Prime Minister tradition over health fears
For the first time in her 70-year reign, Her Majesty will break an important tradition in the handover of power to a new PM.
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The United Kingdom’s new Prime Minister will be appointed in Scotland instead of England for the first time in the Queen’s 70-year reign.
Due to increasing mobility issues and health concerns, the handover of power from Boris Johnson to his replacement will take place at Balmoral Castle, where she is spending summer, rather than in London.
The Queen, 96, has welcomed 14 new Prime Ministers at Buckingham Palace during her reign, starting with Winston Churchill in 1951, continuing with, among others, Margaret Thatcher in 1979 and Tony Blair in 1997, and finally with Boris Johnson in 2019.
Her next, and 15th, prime minister, whether Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak, will be announced on September 5 and travel to Scotland the next day for the “kissing hands” audience.
“The Queen will receive Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday 6th September at Balmoral. This will be shortly followed by an audience with the new prime minister,” a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said.
The Queen had faced a gruelling 1300km round trip from Scotland to grant the 10-minute “kissing hands” audience with the next British Prime Minister.
After having returned from a recent tour of Scotland, the 96-year-old Monarch returned to the country to rest at her Balmoral retreat over the summer holiday.
The September holiday for the Braemar Gathering is one of the Queen’s favourites, having long attended with Prince Philip to watch the Highland Games.
But the scheduling of the new leadership decision on September 5 meant she would have to travel at least 650 km to meet the new Prime Minister, and possibly double if she is to return after the 10-minute audience.
As is tradition, Her Majesty grants an audience to the incoming leader and asks them to become the new Prime Minister to form a Government.
The new Prime Minister would then go directly to Downing Street to complete the process.
The last time the changeover was held was in 2019, when she asked Boris Johnson to form a new government following the ouster of Teresa May.
Kissing Hands with Prime Ministers for 70 years
Winston Churchill, 26 October 1951 - 5 April 1955
Anthony Eden, 6 April 1955 - 9 January 1957
Harold Macmillan, 10 January 1957- 18 October 1963
Alec Douglas-Home, 19 October 1963 - 16 October 1964
Harold Wilson, 16 October 1964 - 19 June 1970
Edward Heath, 19 June 1970 - 4 March 1974
Harold Wilson, 4 March 1974 - 5 April 1976
James Callaghan, 5 April 1976 - 4 April 1979
Margaret Thatcher, 4 May 1979 - 28 November 1990
John Major, 28 November 1990 - 2 May 1997
Tony Blair, 2 May 1997 - 27 June 2007
Gordon Brown, 27 June 2007 - 11 May 2010
David Cameron, 11 May 2010 - 13 July 2016
Theresa May, 13 July 2016 - 24 July 2019
Boris Johnson, 24 July 2019 - present
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