Queen’s Balmoral summer holiday to be interrupted for ‘kissing hands’ meeting with new Prime Minister

The Queen will cut her Balmoral holiday short to host an audience with the incoming Prime Minister on September 5 in London

Queen’s Balmoral holiday to be interrupted for ‘kissing hands’ meeting with new Prime Minister
(Image credit: Getty)

The Queen will cut her Balmoral holiday short to host an audience with the incoming Prime Minister in London, Buckingham Palace has confirmed. 


The Queen's summer vacation at Balmoral Castle will be cut short so that the monarch can hold an audience with the incoming Prime Minister in London, a Buckingham Palace spokesperson has revealed. 

Her Majesty usually spends about three months at the Scottish royal residence every year, arriving in mid-July and leaving in September to resume her duties as Head of State. It has long been a tradition for Royal Family members to visit the 96-year-old at the £140m property, which is believed to be the favorite of the Queen's multiple royal homes. 

It looks like the Queen will have to squeeze all her family engagements into the next three weeks, however, following the news that she will be leaving Balmoral earlier than usual. 

Queen proves she's not "all stiff upper lip", seen here attending the Queen's Body Guard for Scotland

(Image credit: Photo by Jane Barlow/WPA Pool/Getty Images)

The royal matriarch is expected to be back in London by September 5, when the winner of the Conservative leadership race is due to be announced. She will then hold an audience with the incoming Prime Minister, with Buckingham Palace predicted as the most likely spot for the private meeting to take place. It's also possible, however, that Her Majesty will host the ceremony - historically known as 'kissing hands' - at Windsor Castle, her permanent residence as of March 2022. 

Technically, the new Prime Minister could travel to Balmoral to save the Queen the 800-mile journey. However, this would delay the process of the formation of the new government. 

Luckily for the Queen, she's no stranger to the formalities involved in the ritual. Her Majesty has given audiences to 14 incoming Prime Ministers over the course of her reign, with Boris Johnson being the latest politician to request permission to form a government under her eye. 

Emma Dooney
Lifestyle News Writer

Hailing from the lovely city of Dublin, Emma mainly covers the Royal Family and the entertainment world, as well as the occasional health and wellness feature. Always up for a good conversation, she has a passion for interviewing everyone from A-list celebrities to the local GP - or just about anyone who will chat to her, really.

Emma holds an MA in International Journalism from City, University of London, and a BA in English Literature from Trinity College Dublin.