The last public image of Queen Elizabeth II will remain from her meeting with newly announced Prime Minister Liz Truss at Balmoral two days before her death. The meeting was held for the handover of power, after the departure of Boris Johnson. The Queen seemed in good spirits.
Her Majesty's death came hours after Buckingham Palace shared news that doctors were "concerned" about her health and recommended she "remain under medical supervision".
But the Queen continued with royal engagements even in her final days. In fact, this meeting was also the first time in the history of the kingdom that the handover of power from the outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson to his successor, Liz Truss, took place at Balmoral and not at Buckingham Palace, in London.
For the occasion, the Queen wore a light gray cardigan over a white shirt and a plaid skirt. As seen in the photo, she was holding a walking stick - something she has been using since October 2021 - as she smiled and greeted Truss inside the Scottish estate.
Following the Queen's death, Truss offered her condolences in a public statement outside her London residence, Downing Street. "Queen Elizabeth II was the rock on which modern Britain was built," she said. "Our country has grown and flourished under her reign. Britain is the great country it is today because of her."
The prime minister also sent her condolences to King Charles, who became king shortly after his mother's death as heir to the throne. "We offer him our loyalty and devotion, just as his mother gave to so many people for so long," Truss said. "With the passing of the second Elizabethan age, we open a new era in the great history of our great country, just as her majesty would have wished in the words, God save the King."
