May
Embroiled with Brexit controversy for nearly the entirety of her position, when Theresa May resigned the Queen was reported to be “sad”. According to ITV’s Royal Editor Chris Ship: “While members of the Royal Family sit above the political debate, I’ve heard some of them speak with admiration for the level of hard work and many hours of negotiation Theresa May has invested in her role over the last three years.”
Johnson
Boris Johnson has certainly set new precedents in Number 10’s relations with the monarchy – he has been forced to offer apologies twice, once for his staff partying on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral in the midst of a pandemic, and previously in 2019 when his unlawful prorogation of parliament was overturned by the supreme court. Whatever she must think of him, he does have nice things to say about her – “Throughout her seven-decade reign, she has shown an inspirational sense of duty and unwavering dedication to this nation” he said in February. “I pay tribute to her many years of service and look forward to the summer when we will be able to come together as a country to celebrate her historic reign.”
Professor Ben Pimlott, the Queen’s biographer, says she appreciates the worth of the weekly audience. ‘For the Prime Minister it can be a kind of officially-prescribed therapy session – a rare meeting with somebody who is constitutionally incapable of delivering a stab in the back.’ And she doesn’t mind what they wear..
See also: The Queen Gets Her Own Barbie Doll to Mark Her Platinum Jubilee
