She was the last of 15 premiers to be installed by the Queen throughout her 70-year reign on Tuesday afternoon at Balmoral in the customary “kissing hands” ceremony.
But despite her inexperience in the position, Ms. Truss must now step up to the plate and attempt to bear the sorrow of a country.
The challenging job will unavoidably be contrasted with Tony Blair’s response to Princess Diana’s passing in August 1997, despite the fact that the terrible circumstances were considerably different and he had already been in office for a number of months at that point.
In a memorial he gave outside a church in his Sedgefield constituency, Mr. Blair, now Sir Tony, used the term “People’s Princess” to characterise Diana.
He received high appreciation for capturing the mood of the nation in contrast to the subdued pronouncements made by the Royal Family.
When Ms. Truss announced an extraordinary £150 billion rescue to freeze energy prices for two years, she made a significant intervention that may have defined her political career to this point.
That was cut short when she received word that the queen was very sick and that her family was leaving for Balmoral. She received this information in a letter while she sat on the Commons benches.
After the worst was confirmed last evening, Ms. Truss spoke in Downing Street and referred to the Queen as the “rock on which modern Britain was constructed.”
Ms. Truss announced this week’s appointment at Balmoral, saying the former queen had been “determined to perform her job” while standing behind a podium outside the fabled black door of No. 10. She was dressed entirely in black.
In a sombre tone, she discussed the “wonderful legacy” left by the Queen’s 20 years of service.
The speech lacked the sparkle of Sir Tony’s ostensibly spontaneous statements in Sedgefield 25 years before.
However, it came from the heart.
Ms. Truss will definitely put politics on hold from this point on and join the country in concentrating on the debt owing to the Queen.