Queen Elizabeth poses with (L-R) ex-PMs Cameron, Major, Blair and Brown ahead of a Diamond Jubilee lunch hosted by Cameron at 10 Downing Street in London in this 2012 file photo (Image: Reuters)
Queen Elizabeth worked with 15 prime ministers, building relationships and playing a constitutional role in transitions of power.
Throughout her reign, which lasted for 70 years, Queen Elizabeth developed strong relationships with her 15 prime ministers. From Winston Churchill in 1952 to Liz Truss in 2022, over the period of seven decades, Elizabeth waited eagerly to meet with her prime ministers for the weekly ‘private audiences’.
The Queen’s role in inviting prime ministers to form a government played a crucial constitutional role in the transition of power.
Here is a list of prime ministers who served under Queen Elizabeth II, whose son Charles III, will be crowned King of England on Saturday:
Winston Churchill – When England’s wartime prime minister retired the queen sent him a handwritten note where she said no successor can ever replace her “first prime minister”. Sir ‘Tommy’ Lascelles, top civil servant and the former personal secretary of the Queen, remarked that during the private meetings between Churchill and the Queen one could hear only slight bursts of “laughter” and many observed that Churchill admired the young monarch’s (she was 25 when she became queen) attitude and understanding of how important her role was.
Anthony Eden – Even though former prime minister Eden and the Queen had developed a good relationship, his handling of the Suez Crisis, which led to the nationalisation of Suez Canal in 1956, concerned the queen.
Harold Macmillan – He was the third prime minister to serve under the queen and the two did not initially hit it off. However, they later grew fond of each other and worked together.
Alec Douglas-Home – The fourth prime minister to serve under Elizabeth had a close relationship with the Queen and helped her name royal horses over the years.
Harold Wilson – Wilson was the first prime minister from the Labour Party to serve the queen. There were fears that their relationship would be problematic given Wilson’s socialist leanings but Ben Pimlott, the British historian, wrote that Wilson treated Elizabeth as an equal and “almost as a member of his Cabinet”.
Edward Heath – The sixth prime minister and the queen did not have a close relationship. Heath made the UK pro-Europe, regarding which the queen had her reservations.
James Callaghan – The seventh prime minister to serve the queen was a ‘devoted monarchist’ and both of them had a strong relationship. Callaghan once remarked that the queen had a good sense of humour and was an attentive listener. Their conversations ranged from politics to social and international matters.
Margaret Thatcher – The UK’s longest serving prime minister in modern history (11 years) and the longest reigning monarch were reported to have a frosty relationship. They were not close but they respected each other and even clashed over Thatcher’s handling of certain issues (apartheid and Falklands’ War).
John Major – The ninth prime minister to serve the queen was the first prime minister who was younger than the queen. He was the prime minister who announced to the UK parliament that Prince Charles (now King Charles) and Princess Diana were separating.
Tony Blair – The tenth prime minister and the second from the Labour Party, Blair, was known as the great ‘modernizer’. Blair and the queen had a good relationship and the former described her as “shy but direct”. He was, however, not on the guest list for Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding.
Gordon Brown – The eleventh prime minister to serve the queen was also not on the guest list for Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding.
David Cameron – Cameron and the queen got on well and he was also a distant relative of the queen. His hot mic moment following the Scottish independence referendum may have ruffled some feathers.
Theresa May – The thirteenth prime minister to serve the queen and the second female prime minister of the UK remarked how well-versed the queen was with current issues.
Boris Johnson – The fourteenth prime minister to serve the queen broke one of the cardinal rules, which was that the details of the conversation between him and the sovereign were to remain a secret. He revealed what the queen had told him during their meeting in a lighthearted moment and created a controversy. He apologised to her regarding this as well as the Covid party scandal.
Liz Truss – The fifteenth and final prime minister of the UK to serve the queen and the queen appointing Truss as UK prime minister two days before her death was her last major constitutional action.
(with inputs from Town and Village and the Washington Post)
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