King Charles muttered “Dear, oh dear” as he greeted Liz Truss at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday night.
The monarch received the Prime Minister in one of the palace’s grand reception rooms after a previous meeting with the King and Queen of Malaysia.
A clip released by the palace at the start of their weekly audience shows a pair of double doors being opened by servants and Mrs. Truss being escorted inside by the king’s equerry.
“Prime Minister, Your Majesty,” the equerry announces.
Mrs. Truss steps forward to shake the king’s hand and bows.
“Your Majesty, nice to see you again,” she says.
Charles, smiling, replies, “Back again?”
Ms. Truss adds, “Well, it’s a great pleasure.”
The king replies, “Dear, oh dear. Anyway.”
It came after Ms Truss faced questions from the prime minister in parliament, where she insisted she would not cut spending to balance the books as economists and the financial markets continued to question her plans.
Ms Truss told MPs she had “absolutely” no intention of cutting government spending, but insisted that taxpayers’ money would be put to good use.
Separately, King Charles also met the King and Queen of Malaysia on Wednesday afternoon, known as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Raja Permaisuri Agong.
