45 Days, 2 Monarchs: How Liz Truss’ Stint as Prime Minister Bridged Queen Elizabeth and King Charles

Queen Elizabeth II, left, welcomes Liz Truss during an audience at Balmoral, Scotland; King Charles III during his first audience with Prime Minister Liz Truss

Jane Barlow/AP/Shutterstock; Yui Mok/AP/Shutterstock

Liz Truss will forever connect Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III.

Truss, 47, announced her resignation as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Thursday, telling the press outside 10 Downing Street that she notified the King of her intent to step down and would continue her duties until a new Conservative Party leader is chosen in the coming days.

Truss is poised to make history as the shortest-serving prime minister of the United Kingdom, having served just 45 days since her election on Sept. 5. The politician was appointed to her post on Sept. 6 by Queen Elizabeth at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. Truss became the 15th premier elected to office during the Queen’s reign, and her appointment was the first outside Buckingham Palace.

The meeting would be Queen Elizabeth’s last formal duty as sovereign. On Sept. 8, the palace announced that the history-making monarch died “peacefully” at age 96, hours after her doctors announced they were “concerned” for her health.

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Queen Elizabeth II, left, welcomes Liz Truss during an audience at Balmoral, Scotland

Jane Barlow/AP/Shutterstock Queen Elizabeth and Liz Truss

That day, Truss issued a heartfelt statement praising the late Queen as “the very spirit of Great Britain” and “rock” of her realm. On Sept. 9, she met with King Charles, who immediately acceded his mother as monarch. Truss went on to attend the accession of King Charles, where she signed the formal proclamation declaring him King, and the Queen’s state funeral on Sept. 19 in her position as prime minister.

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.

The Queen was quite fond of Churchill and sent him a handwritten letter upon his retirement. In it, she said no one “will ever for me be able to hold the place of my first prime minister, to whom both my husband and I owe so much and for whose wise guidance during the early years of my reign I shall always be so profoundly grateful,” according to Yahoo.

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1953: Elizabeth II, Queen of England with Prince Charles and Princess Anne chatting to Sir Winston Churchill (1874 – 1965).

Central Press/Getty Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Queen Elizabeth and Winston Churchill

Though King Charles has yet to comment on Truss’ resignation, their recent meeting made headlines for its awkward start. The two convened at Buckingham Palace on Oct. 13 for their first weekly audience, and the monarch muttered, “Dear, oh dear,” while welcoming the prime minister into the room.

While many wondered if the King’s remark was political, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly told U.K. station LBC radio that it wasn’t so.

“I view it as much more an empathetic statement,” Cleverly said, per Politico. “He recognizes that all of us — everyone in the country — is dealing with a really tough winter ahead.”

Prime Minister Liz Truss signs the Proclamation of Accession of King Charles III during the Accession Council ceremony at St James’s Palace

Kirsty O’Connor/AP/Shutterstock

Soon into her tenure, Truss’ critics argued she wasn’t doing enough to thwart a financial crisis.

The politician faced low approval ratings after the British government announced tax cuts that would largely favor the wealthy — an announcement that caused the value of the pound to plunge while borrowing costs spiked.

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King Charles III meets Prime Minister Liz Truss during their weekly audience at Buckingham Palace on October 12, 2022 in London, England.

Kirsty O’Connor – WPA Pool/Getty

RELATED: U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss Announces Resignation 45 Days into Premiership

As the economy suffered, Truss’ finance minister announced that the government would abandon the tax plan altogether, but some argued the Conservatives’ power was abandoned with it.

Truss succeeded former Prime Minister Boris Johnson. She previously served as Britain’s Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs and Minister for Women and Equalities since 2019.