Secret plans for Queen to appoint new Prime Minister at Balmoral in historic first as she is ‘suffering with mobility’
SECRET plans have been drawn up for the Queen to appoint the new Prime Minister at Balmoral instead of Buckingham Palace in a historic first.
The 96-year-old monarch is suffering with her mobility and has been advised to stay put for the September 6 ceremony with Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak.
The new Prime Minister will make a 1,000-mile round trip to see the Queen at Balmoral for a historic ceremony to seal the transition of power.
Her Majesty, who has been suffering mobility problems, is no longer expected to interrupt her holiday when Tory voters elect Boris Johnson’s replacement for No10.
Plans are now under way for Mr Johnson to be joined by either Rishi Sunak or Liz Truss and travel to see the Queen on Tuesday, September 6.
It would be the first time in living memory the so-called kissing of the hands happens outside London or Windsor.
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The current advice issued to the Queen is understood to be based on concerns about her comfort.
A final decision on whether she stays put will be announced publicly next week because the outgoing and incoming Prime Ministers need advance notice.
The plans have sparked fresh health concerns coming just weeks after she wowed partying Brits during her glorious four-day Platinum Jubilee party in June.
A source said: “The Queen has now been advised not to travel.
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“But obviously no one tells the Queen what to do and ultimately it is her decision, and as we saw when she made a third appearance on the Buckingham Palace balcony at the Jubilee she likes surprises.
“There are some parts of her role that Prince Charles can do on her behalf but the Queen is adamant that she appoints the Prime Minister.
“It may not be the best choice to make the Queen travel 1,000 miles there and back for a 48-hour visit when the Prime Ministers can easily get to Balmoral instead.”
It is understood when the Queen arrived in Scotland last month for her ten-week holiday she had hoped to make the journey south when the PM is appointed.
Windsor Castle had been earmarked for the traditional constitutional ceremony.
Sources say it is incredibly rare for any monarch not to anoint a new Prime Minister at Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle.
The Queen kissed hands with her first PM Winston Churchill in 1952 at Heathrow when she returned from Africa after her father King George VI died.
Every other PM since has travelled to Buckingham Palace.
But in 1908 after the sudden resignation of a sickly Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman the ceremony was carried out in France.
His replacement Herbert Asquith was forced to travel to Biarritz where the Queen’s great-grandfather King Edward VII was on holiday at the time.
There are some parts of her role that Prince Charles can do on her behalf but the Queen is adamant that she appoints the Prime Minister.
A source
Asquith was appointed after an audience in a private room in a hotel and remains the only PM to have taken office on foreign soil. The Queen has suffered “episodic mobility problems” for almost a year and spent a night in hospital last October.
She arrived in Scotland on July 22 and was pictured walking down the steps of her plane after landing at Aberdeen airport.
A public ceremony welcoming the Queen to Balmoral was instead held behind closed doors amid concerns for her comfort.
Members of her family have been by her side at the 50,000-acre estate this summer.
It is believed Prince Andrew was the first family member to arrive north of the border and was locked in “intense talks” with his mother after he was banished from his royal roles in January due to his sex abuse case.
Prince Charles and Camilla have been in their home at Birkhall just a short drive from the Queen’s apartments at Balmoral.
William and Kate, who are moving to become her neighbours at Windsor Castle, are also believed to have been with her on the estate with George, nine, Charlotte, seven, and Louis, four.
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie and their families have holidayed at Balmoral this month.
And Prince Edward and Sophie Wessex’s daughter Lady Louise was on the Queen’s estate when she received her A-level results last week.
Prince Harry and Meghan are flying back from California next month to be in Windsor, Manchester, London and Dusseldorf, but have not confirmed if they will visit the Queen.
It may not be the best choice to make the Queen travel 1,000 miles there and back for a 48-hour visit when the Prime Ministers can easily get to Balmoral instead.
A source
Tory voters will elect Boris Johnson’s replacement when they choose between Rishi Sunak or Liz Truss on Monday, September 5.
Mr Johnson is expected to be at Balmoral the following day to tender his resignation in an audience with the Queen.
His replacement will then be appointed by the Queen who is also set to meet the new Privy Council. Ms Truss or Mr Sunak will be the 15th PM to have served during her 70-year reign.
She interrupted her Balmoral holiday in July 2019 and headed to Buckingham Palace for when Mr Johnson replaced Theresa May.
The Queen first stayed at her seven-bed Craigowan Lodge when she flew up in July.
The stone cottage has recently been surrounded by a CCTV-ring-of-steel and security fences and fitted with a £20,000 wheelchair-friendly lift.
When the Queen moved into Balmoral on August 8 Palace insiders initially said the plan was for the Queen to interrupt her break for audiences with the outgoing and incoming Prime Ministers.
It was hoped due to the timing of the election she could jet back to Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle.
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Her health fears were first sparked when she appeared with a walking stick at a Westminster Abbey engagement last October.
Buckingham Palace did not want to comment last night.
KISS WITH WINSTON
THE Queen’s first Prime Minister was Winston Churchill who had been appointed just four months earlier by her father King George VI.
Churchill kissed hands with the young Queen for the first time on the tarmac at London Airport — now called Heathrow — when she landed back from Africa on February 7, 1952.
Since then, a string of Prime Ministers from Harold Wilson to Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair have “kissed hands” with the Queen.
Records reveal all incoming PMs during her reign have been appointed at Buckingham Palace.
In more modern times the incoming leaders have not been required to physically kiss the Queen’s hands.
What happens between them during the ceremony is usually kept private.
