Liz Truss reveals what it was like being PM during Queen Elizabeth II death

Liz Truss has reflected on what it was like to be the prime minister while the late Queen was dying.

Speaking to GB News, Truss revealed what happened when she met with the Queen at Balmoral in her capacity as prime minister, mere days before she passed away in an interview for the first anniversary of her death.

She said: “In the meeting at Balmoral, she was absolutely on top of what was happening. She was very, very keen to reassure me that we'd be meeting again soon. It was very important to her.

“I’d met the Queen before when I was Justice Secretary. I've met her on several occasions. And although she was physically quite frail, she was always absolutely mentally alert and determined to do her duty.

“I was obviously only in the first few days of the job of being Prime Minister. I was thinking about many, many different things. But the assumption absolutely was that this would be the first of many meetings.”

But Buckingham Palace released a statement confirming doctors were concerned for Her Majesty’s health when Truss was back in Downing Street. Meanwhile, during a parliamentary session in the Commons, notes were passed around alerting senior politicians about the news of the Queen's declining health.

Truss confirmed a staffer had been sent to her house to bring back a black dress.

EXCLUSIVE: Liz Truss reveals what the Queen said in historic final meetingwww.youtube.com

She recalled: “I knew I would have to address the nation. I knew the situation was very, very serious, and it was really just getting through those crucial moments and making sure that we did all we could to pay tribute to the Queen, but also to make sure there was a smooth transition to support the new King.”

When she died, Truss said the public's reaction was "poignant". She said: “The crowds were lined up everywhere we went, whether it was Edinburgh, Belfast, Cardiff, there were huge crowds of people on the street near the coffin arriving in London. I remember that that was very poignant. Just to think that this really was the end of such an important era.”

Speaking about her legacy, Truss said: “Well, I think she was such a major figure, not just for Britain but for the whole post-war era and she represents that continuity and that huge hope people had for the future after what was a terrible war and an era of peace and prosperity, and I think she represented that.”

“One of the main things people ask me is, ‘how was she?’ She's still very, very, very loved and treasured. And she was still very much with us until the end.”

“And that's what just struck me about her is that right until that moment she wanted to be there doing her duty."

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