Liz Truss: Australia’s Channel 9 mistake prime minister for ‘minor royal’ during Queen’s funeral

An Australian news channel misidentified Liz Truss as a “minor royal” during Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral.

On Monday (19 September), the world watched on as the monarch’s life was honoured with a service at Westminster Abbey after her body lay in state at Westminster Hall for four days.

The prime minister, who met the monarch at Balmoral two days before her death, gave a reading of John 14, 1-9A during the service.

However, her arrival at the ceremony left Channel 9 presenters Peter Overton and Tracy Grimshaw scratching their heads as they struggled to identify Truss.

“Who’s this?” Grimshaw asked, with Overton theorising: “Hard to identify. Maybe minor royals? Members of the– I can’t identify them at this point.”

“We can’t split everyone up unfortunately,” Grimshaw added. “They could well be royal dignitaries, it’s hard to see.”

Overton began to suggest that Truss was a lower ranked royal, before being informed that she was, in fact, the prime minister.

“I think we are now getting to the pointy end, as they say of the– I’m just told that was Liz Truss, the new prime minister, in the distance that we could see,” he said.

Follow along with all the live updates from the Queen’s funeral here.

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