Following Boris Johnson’s resignation, Liz Truss assumed the role of prime minister of the United Kingdom on Tuesday during a meeting with the monarch, Queen Elizabeth II.
In an official portrait, the 47-year-old former foreign secretary can be seen shaking hands with the monarch as she accepts her invitation to form a new government and become the monarch’s 15th prime minister in her 70-year reign.
The queen, 96, was thought too unwell to travel back to London, so the symbolic ceremony was held at the sovereign’s isolated Balmoral estate in the Scottish Highlands.
“The queen received the right honorable Elizabeth Truss MP in audience today and requested her to establish a new cabinet,” according to a statement from Buckingham Palace.
“Upon being appointed as prime minister, Ms. Truss kissed Her Majesty’s hands and accepted the offer.
At Balmoral, the transfer of authority last occurred in 1885, during the reign of queen Victoria.
At central London’s Buckingham Palace, the outgoing and new prime ministers often have brief encounters with the monarch.