The Queen kept a "studied distance" from Liz Truss during their historic meeting at Balmoral today, a body language expert has said.
After winning the Tory leadership race, Ms Truss headed to the Scottish Highlands for an audience with Her Majesty, where she was officially invited to form a government. Truss is the 15th Prime Minister the Queen has worked with during her 70-year reign and a photo from inside the estate's Drawing Room showed the Queen smiling broadly, dressed in a grey cardigan and pleated tartan skirt. And according to body language expert Judi James, the incoming PM seemed keen but also slightly awkward.
She told the Mirror: "With her 19-year-old self and her apparently anti-monarchist views shoved firmly behind her in the trunk of her past, Truss’s body language here suggested she was keen but also rather self-consciously awkward to be meeting the Queen in Balmoral today.
"There is a tentative look to her body pose and the way her knees are slightly bent as her torso leans forward suggests she might even have performed at least a half-curtsey on greeting the monarch.
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"There appears to be a studied distance from the Queen and no attempt at the more relaxed charm of her predecessors Cameron and Johnson.
"Truss was always going to be upstaged by the Queen anyway, as this is a rare glimpse of her since she stepped back from public life amid worried speculation about her health.
"Joyfully her wide smile with her raised brows and her very comfortable eye contact suggests she is still in the best of spirits and able to stand with the aid of her stick, which she seems to have a very firm grip on. She looks welcoming and friendly and delighted to meet her newest PM."
Following the meeting, Buckingham Palace released a statement reading: "The Queen received in audience The Right Honourable Elizabeth Truss MP today and requested her to form a new administration. Ms Truss accepted Her Majesty’s offer and kissed hands upon her appointment as Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury."
Ms Truss took a private plane followed by a chauffeur-driven car from London to Scotland, accompanied by her husband Hugh O’Leary.
Following the royal audience, Ms Truss's team promptly updated her social media accounts. Her Twitter bio now reads: "Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Leader of the Conservative Party. MP for South West Norfolk."
Earlier today, the Monarch had a meeting with Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie, during which he officially resigned as Prime Minister.
The couple spent about 40 minutes with the Queen, however, the details of the meeting will not be made public.
