Former British PM’s final encounter with the late Queen and the regal advice she never took

In her new memoir, former British Prime Minister Liz Truss opens up about her final encounter with the late Queen Elizabeth II just days before she died and the crucial piece of advice the Monarch gave her which she probably should have taken.

Published on April 16 and written by Truss herself, the book is titled Ten Years to Save the West, and contains her account of meetings with various heads of state, the British government and her meeting with the Queen who died two days into her short-lived tenure as Prime Minister.

In the book, she reveals the Monarch’s level-headed piece of advice: “pace yourself”.

Reflecting on the moment, Truss admits, “Maybe I should have listened.”

Speaking on the talk show, The Reaction, Truss gave more details about the meeting.

“She was physically very frail but mentally so alert. I had no idea on that day that things were so imminent,” she said.

“I had no idea because she was talking as if this was the start of something. That I was the new prime minister, that she’d be there, giving me advice, sort of talking through the issues of the day. She was across everything.

“We had a very detailed chat for 20 minutes. She met my husband. All of those things gave me no sense at all that her death was imminent.

“And she ended the meeting by saying, you know, ‘I look forward to seeing you again’.”

The Queen died two days after their meeting. Truss reportedly said, “To be told this on only my second full day as Prime Minister felt utterly unreal. In a state of shock, I found myself thinking: ‘Why me? Why now?'”

It wasn’t long before Truss then resigned, her unexpected resignation making her the shortest serving prime minister in British history. 

Following a tumultuous time in office, kick-started by a poorly thought-out “mini-budget”, Truss quit her post just one day after telling members of parliament that she was “a fighter, not a quitter”.

Despite her flip-flopping on her ill-advised tax-cutting budget plan, Truss shouldered no responsibility and blamed the state she’d inherited her job in during her resignation speech.

Truss will not only be remembered as the UK’s shortest serving Prime Minster. She will also be seen as the Prime Minister to see out Queen Elizabeth II’s era as Monarch and the one to witness King Charles III’s ascension to the throne.