King Charles IIIis welcoming his second prime minister — in less than seven weeks!
The King appointed Rishi Sunak as leader of the U.K. Parliament following his victory in the contest to lead the Conservative Party on Monday.
It marked the first time Charles, 73, has formally asked a new prime minister to form a government, as he inherited Sunak’spredecessor Liz Trusswhen he acceded to the throne at the death ofQueen Elizabeth IIonSept. 8. Trussresigned last weekafter just 45 days, when she lost the confidence of the majority Conservative Party.
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After the meeting Buckingham Palace said in a statement, “The King received in Audience The Right Honourable Rishi Sunak MP today and requested him to form a new Administration. Mr. Sunak accepted His Majesty’s offer and kissed hands upon his appointment as Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury.”
Earlier, Charles met the outgoing Liz Truss, which Buckingham Palace saying she had “an audience of The King this morning and tendered her resignation as Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury, which His Majesty was graciously please to accept.”
While Charles’s motherQueen Elizabethsaw15 prime ministers— from Winston Churchill to Truss — across her more than 70 years on the throne, Charles has now hadtwo in under two months.
Truss was prime minister for less than two days of the Queen’s reign, as the monarch died two days after Truss was appointed. Truss also has the distinction of being the shortest-serving U.K. prime minister in history, as she announced her resignation six weeks after visiting the Queen at Balmoral Castle in Scotland for her formal appointment on Sept. 6.
Rishi Sunak.Dan Kitwood/Getty
The appearance was the last public duty for the Queen before her death on Sept. 8.
With Queen Elizabeth’s death and King Charles' accession, Truss became the first U.K. prime minister since Winston Churchill to serve under two different monarchs. Churchill served as prime minister from 1940 to 1945, then again from 1951 to 1955 alongside King George VI,Queen Elizabeth’s father who died in 1952.
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Queen Elizabeth and Liz Truss.Jane Barlow/AP/Shutterstock
Truss was the third and youngest woman to serve as U.K. prime minister, behindMargaret Thatcher(1979 to 1990) andTheresa May(2016 to 2019). Before her wasBoris Johnson, who also traveled to Balmoral for a formal farewell from the Queen on Sept. 6.
Sunak makes history as the first U.K. prime minister of British Asian heritage. It came on a poignant week for him, as Monday was the first day of Diwali, the annual festival of lights.
source: people.com
