Boris Johnson Says Queen Elizabeth Was 'Bright and Focused' in Last Meeting 2 Days Before Her Death

Mar. 15, 2025

Boris Johnson and Queen Elizabeth.Photo: Victoria Jones - WPA Pool/Getty

Boris Johnsonis recalling his final meeting withQueen Elizabeth, just two days before her death.

Speaking with theBBC, the former U.K. prime minister, 58, said the Queen — who died Thursday at age 96 — was “absolutely on it” Tuesday, as hetendered his resignationand the Queen appointedLiz Truss as her 15th prime minsterin Scotland.

“Given how ill she obviously was, how amazing it was that she be so bright and focused,” Johnson told the BBC of their final meeting. “It was a pretty emotional time.”

He also said the Queen’s death “was a colossal thing” for him personally, and that he felt “this slightly inexplicable excess of emotion” upon hearing the news.

Of his weekly meetings with the Queen, Johnson told the BBC that they were “a wonderful moment of tranquility” and “a fantastic break from everything else.”

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Queen Elizabeth and Liz Truss.Jane Barlow/AP/Shutterstock

“I am honoured to be elected Leader of the Conservative Party. Thank you for putting your trust in me to lead and deliver for our great country,” Trusssaid in a statementfollowing the race against Sunak, 42. “I will take bold action to get all of us through these tough times, grow our economy, and unleash the United Kingdom’s potential.”

Johnson announced he wasstepping down as prime ministerin July after losing the confidence of his cabinet. However, he opted to continue as caretaker prime minister until the party could find a replacement.

“The Right Honourable Boris Johnson MP had an Audience of The Queen this morning andtendered his resignation as Prime Ministerand First Lord of the Treasury, which Her Majesty was graciously pleased to accept,” Buckingham Palace said in a release on Tuesday.

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“This is our country’s saddest day because she had a unique and simple power to make us happy,“he continued. “That is why we loved her. That is why we grieve for Elizabeth the Great, the longest serving and in many ways the finest monarch in our history.”

Inher official statement, Truss wrote, “Queen ElizabethII was the rock on which modern Britain was built. Our country has grown and flourished under her reign. In the difficult days ahead, we will come together with our friends across the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth and the world to celebrate her extraordinary lifetime of service.”

“It is a day of great loss, butQueen ElizabethII leaves a great legacy,” she said in closing. “God save the King.”

source: people.com