New Prime Minister Liz Truss said she was “hugely honoured” to be the last premier to be appointed by the Queen.
Ms Truss went to Balmoral Castle on September 6 where the monarch asked her to form a government and become her 15th PM.
Two days later the Queen died, plunging the UK into 11 days of mourning, which climaxed on Monday with Her Late Majesty’s funeral.
Hours after attending the funeral at Westminster Abbey, Ms Truss arrived at Stansted Airport for a flight to the the United Nations General Assembly in New York, having travelled straight from the Queen’s committal service at St George’s Chapel, Windsor.
In the US, she is due to hold a series of meetings with world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, French Premier Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Asked about the 11 days since the Queen’s death, Ms Truss said it was her job as PM to “make sure that we are marking this very important moment in our national history”.
“It has been a momentous period and a period of great grief and sadness in the United Kingdom and I think we have seen a huge outpouring of love and affection for Her Late Majesty, as well as a huge amount of warmth towards King Charles III,” she said.
Ms Truss attended a series of events with the new monarch in UK capitals as he toured the nations in the aftermath of his mother’s death.
“I have been travelling around the country - Edinburgh, Belfast, Cardiff - and the streets have been lined, and today at the funeral, with this huge public support,” she said.
“I have also seen that from world leaders who have come to London in unprecedented numbers.
“And from my own point of view, I’m hugely honoured to have been invited to form a government by Her Majesty the Queen in one of her last acts.
“Since then I have had two meetings with His Majesty and what I have seen is a huge outpouring of public warmth and support for him and for the whole Royal Family.”
The PM, who has backed moves to cut tens of thousands Civil Service staff from Whitehall, paid tribute to their role in organising the events - some codenamed with the suffix “Bridge” - following the monarch’s death.
“I’ve had tremendous support from the civil servants who worked on the ‘Bridges’ secretariat and I just praise the work they have done, the work that the Royal Household have done, and the armed forces as well,” she said as she flew to New York.
“What has been a very difficult moment for our nation has been handled tremendously.”
