Following Boris Johnson's resignation, Liz Truss assumed the role of prime minister of the United Kingdom on Tuesday during a meeting with the head pf the state, Queen Elizabeth II. In an official portrait, the 47-year-old former foreign secretary can be seen shaking hands with the monarch as she accepts her invitation to form a new government and become the 15th prime minister in her 70-year reign. The queen, 96, was thought too unwell to travel back to London, so the symbolic ceremony was held at the sovereign's isolated Balmoral estate in the Scottish Highlands. After a long campaign that started in July, Truss was declared the winner of a vote among Conservative party members on Monday.
