Influential Tory Sir Graham Brady has said a new party leader would be announced on September 5. However, the Queen is expected at her Scottish residence in Balmoral at that time.
Once the Tory leader is elected, he or she is expected to meet the Queen for the “kissing hands” – and the audience where Her Majesty will ask the leader to form a government.
After this audience, the leader goes straight to Downing Street to form a government.
Although the new chief could travel to Balmoral, it is likely that the Queen will have to travel 800 miles to Buckingham Palace or Windsor to arrange the meeting.
The news that the Queen may have to travel so far and so often has led to health problems in the 96-year-old monarch, who has recently suffered from mobility issues.
A source told the Daily Mail: “No attention seems to have been paid to the Queen’s circumstances. Do politicians seriously expect a 96-year-old woman to travel 800 miles in front of a 10-minute audience?”
Complicating matters further, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie are expected in Balmoral on September 3 and 4, just before the new leader is announced.