Photos show King Charles appointing a new UK prime minister just weeks after Queen Elizabeth did
- King Charles appointed the UK's new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Tuesday.
- Charles met with Sunak at Buckingham Palace just seven weeks after Liz Truss took the role.
King Charles III formally appointed the UK's new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday.
At the age of 42, Sunak is the youngest prime minister in more than a century, The Guardian reports. He also makes history as the first person of color and the first Hindu to take on the role, the publication reports.
Charles invited Sunak to form a new administration just seven weeks after Queen Elizabeth performed the same tradition with Liz Truss at Balmoral Castle. The Queen was photographed welcoming Truss into office on September 6, which marked her final royal engagement before her death on September 8.
It is tradition for the British monarch to meet with every new prime minister, and Queen Elizabeth welcomed 15 prime ministers during her reign. While the monarch is supposed to remain politically neutral, they work closely with the UK government. For example, Charles will be expected to hold a weekly audience with Sunak and sign government legislation.
Truss handed her resignation to the king on Tuesday, which "His Majesty was graciously pleased to accept," according to a Buckingham Palace press release sent to Insider.
Truss resigned last Thursday just over six weeks after she took the role, making her shortest-serving prime minister in UK history, Insider previously reported.
Truss resigned following dissension among members of her own Conservative Party over a vote on fracking last week, as well as the backlash to her proposed mini-budget which led Britain into financial turmoil, The Telegraph reported.