The Queen to swear in new PM at Balmoral - rather than asking Prince Charles

The Queen will not ask the Prince of Wales to swear in the new prime minister despite her ailing health - and will instead perform the ceremony at Balmoral for the first time in her 70-year

reign.

The monarch had originally hoped to make the round trip journey from her Scottish home to Buckingham Palace for the formality, in which she would receive Boris Johnson to accept his

resignation before welcoming his successor.

Aides had then considered using Windsor Castle as a back-up option for the Queen’s comfort, allowing her to stay overnight at the residence she now considers home.

Experts said she could also have opted to ask the Prince of Wales and Duke of Cambridge, her Counsellors of State, to stand in for her in London - but has chosen to carry out her

constitutional duties in person.

Buckingham Palace has not commented on reports that the Queen will receive her current and next prime minister for the “kissing of the hands” at Balmoral on Sept 6.

It is said she has been advised not to make the 1,000-mile round-trip for the short ceremony and photocall, due to ongoing mobility problems which have made travelling difficult.

It is understood that a final decision will be made and announced in the middle of next week.

Mr Johnson and both of the candidates to succeed him, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, have all made clear that they would be happy to make the journey to the Queen wherever she is based.

It would be the first time a prime minister officially resigned or was appointed outside of Buckingham Palace during the Queen’s 70-year reign.

Queen Victoria regularly asked her prime ministers to travel to Balmoral. In 1908, Herbert Asquith travelled to Biarritz, France, for an audience with King Edward VII.

In July, The Telegraph reported that Mr Johnson is likely to tender his resignation to the Queen at Balmoral, having already explored plans for the Sept 6 audience.

Then, a Number 10 spokesman said: “He would not be averse to going up to Scotland.”

In August, palace sources had emphasised the intention for the Queen to travel in person to London to meet with her outgoing and incoming prime ministers.

It is understood that she did not want to inconvenience a new leader, preferring them to get on with the critical job of governing the country while she travelled to them.

She is now widely expected to agree to hold the meeting at Balmoral, in another concession to her mobility at the age of 96.

The appointment of new prime ministers is one of the Queen’s key constitutional duties, and the latest she had been able to undertake with modifications.

She has already started receiving ambassadors via video call and has held virtual Privy Council meetings during the pandemic.

This year, she delegated the State Opening of Parliament to two of her Counsellors of State through the issue of Letters Patent, allowing her two heirs - the Prince of Wales and the Duke of

Cambridge - to perform the duty for her.

On Friday night, one constitutional expert told The Telegraph that Her Majesty could have asked them to stand in for her again, explaining that: “Counsellors of State can represent the Queen

in all respects.”

The likely change in venue to Scotland would require the incoming prime minister and his or her officials to fly to Balmoral and return to Westminster in a short round trip, for what has

usually amounted to a short welcome from the Queen and a photograph to mark the occasion.

A source on the Truss leadership campaign said: “Of course she will [go to Balmoral]. Any prime minister would go to wherever the Queen was.”

A Sunak campaign source said: “The prime minister serves Her Majesty. Meeting her is part of becoming PM and part of your duty and your service.”

Downing Street could not confirm whether Mr Johnson was still planning to attend the annual Braemer Games in Scotland with the Queen, allowing him to spend his last weekend as Prime Minister

at Balmoral in advance of his formal resignation.