Queen to break tradition by appointing next prime minister at Balmoral

The Queen will formally appoint Britain’s next prime minister at Balmoral next week rather than at Buckingham Palace in an historic first for her 70-year reign.

The palace has confirmed the 96-year-old monarch will not make the 1600-kilometre round trip from Scotland on Tuesday and instead the outgoing leader Boris Johnson will travel north from London, followed by his successor, which will be either Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak.

Queen Elizabeth will break with tradition when she appoints Britain’s new PM.Credit:AP

Johnson will formally tender his resignation at the residence in Aberdeenshire, while the new Conservative leader will be decided the day earlier after more than a month of campaigning for the votes of more than 100,000 party members.

The traditional constitutional “kissing of the hands” ceremony was locked in at Balmoral to provide certainty to the prime minister’s diary and prevent a last-minute change of plans, a royal spokesman said.

Buckingham Palace previously said she would interrupt her stay at Balmoral to meet the new prime minister – the 15th of her reign.

The monarch kissed hands with her first prime minister, Winston Churchill, in 1952 at Heathrow when she returned from Africa after her father King George VI died.

Every leader bar one has been appointed at Buckingham Palace since the reign of Queen Victoria, constitutional expert Professor Vernon Bogdanor told the BBC.

Either Rishi Sunak or Liz Truss will be Britain’s next PM.Credit:Getty

The only exception was in 1908, when Herbert Henry Asquith travelled to Edward VII in the French city of Biarritz for his appointment.

The Queen, who has battled “episodic mobility issues” for almost a year, arrived in Scotland last month for her 10-week holiday and had hoped to make the journey south when the new PM is appointed. Windsor Castle had been earmarked as the venue.

Appointing a new prime minister is one of the Queen’s core ceremonial responsibilities as head of state. She was forced to hand over responsibility of another earlier in the year when Princes Charles and William took centre stage at the state opening of parliament. It was the first time the Queen had missed the event in 59 years.

Her ongoing health issues, which she has faced for nearly a year since a brief hospital stay last October, have also hampered other occasions including her Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June.

She also contracted COVID-19 back in February, and later spoke about how it left her feeling “very tired and exhausted”.

Several events over the past 12 months have been modified for the Queen’s “comfort”, including her arrival at Balmoral Castle earlier this month.

The moment is traditionally marked by guard of honour at the gates of the 20,000-acre estate, but this year’s inspection of the troops was held privately. She now regularly uses a walking stick at public events.

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