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Why ‘Liz meets Liz’ isn’t strictly true as The Queen prepares to welcome a new Prime Minister

Liz Truss Queen

The Queen is about to appoint her fifteenth Prime Minister and headline writers are readying themselves for a field day. For the new premier is Liz Truss – cue yards and yards of ‘Liz meets Liz’ lines as the two come face to face at Balmoral where HM will ask her namesake to be PM. It’s the first time in almost 200 years that the British Monarch and the British Prime Minister have had the same first name. Except it’s not quite as straightforward as that.

For while the new PM might be known as ‘Liz’, the first name on her birth certificate is actually Mary. The politician about to take over No 10 was born Mary Elizabeth Truss in Oxford but has always been known by her middle name. So much so that she once revealed in an interview that on her first day at school, she was far from pleased to be given a name badge reading ‘Mary’.

That won’t stop a play on words in the political frenzy that currently consumes the British media. The longest reigning Monarch in British history and her brand new PM will find themselves joined by the word ‘Liz’ in articles up and down the land.

But it might be better for Ms Truss to remind everyone that Mary is her first name. For the last time that the Monarch and the Prime Minister shared a first name, things were far from smooth. In 1834, King William IV appointed Lord Melbourne, born William Lamb, as PM. A few months later, tired of his reforming ways, he sacked him – the last time a Monarch dismissed a serving Prime Minister.

Billy Lamb, however, was rather popular with the people and, just months later, won a general election. The king duly asked him to form a government again and Lord Melbourne was still in power when William IV died in June 1837. He then took it upon himself to educate Sailor Bill’s successor, Victoria, in the art of politics leading to all kinds of salacious rumours about the ageing premier and the eighteen year old queen. Victoria always said he was a father figure to her.   

Since the time of the double Bills, there have been no HM/ PM name matches. And that’s why, despite it not being totally correct, this meeting of ladies called Liz is offering up so many headlines. What’s in a name? Let’s hope, for the new Prime Minister, that it’s not the chance for history to repeat itself.

About author

Lydia Starbuck is Jubilee and Associate Editor at Royal Central and the main producer and presenter of the Royal Central Podcast and Royal Central Extra. Lydia is also a pen name of June Woolerton who is a journalist and writer with over twenty years experience in TV, radio, print and online. Her latest book, A History of British Royal Jubilees, is out now. Her new book, The Mysterious Death of Katherine Parr, will be published in March 2024. June is an award winning reporter, producer and editor. She's appeared on outlets including BBC 5 Live, BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Local Radio and has also helped set up a commercial radio station. June is also an accomplished writer with a wide range of material published online and in print. She is the author of two novels, published as e-books. She is also a marriage registrar and ceremony celebrant.