Liz Truss has hosted world leaders for informal talks as the first heads of state and government arrive in Britain for the Queen’s funeral.
The new PM met Australian leader Anthony Albanese and New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern at Chevening country residence on Saturday.
But Downing Street announced on Saturday that a planned meeting with US president Joe Biden ahead of the funeral had been cancelled, without providing an explanation.
Ms Truss is expected to hold talks with the US president at the UN general assembly meeting on Wednesday instead.
No 10 has framed the meetings as informal chats rather than official bilateral meetings, though it has hinted that trade as well as the Queen will be on the agenda.
Ahead of the meetings, Labour prime minister Ms Ardern said the Queen’s death and new King would be the “focus of conversation”, though trade would be likely to come up.
Mr Albanese, also a left-of-centre leader, signed a book of condolences in Lancaster House.
“In this time of great grief, we are thankful to be here paying our respects to the Queen for her services to duty, faith, family and the Commonwealth,” he said.
Ms Truss, who took office just days before the Queen died, also spoke on the telephone to the United Arab Emirates president and ruler of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on Saturday morning.
She is also expected to hold a call with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, on Saturday evening.
Bin Salman’s invitation to the Queen’s funeral is controversial because of his country’s human rights record and allegations that its armed forces are committing war crimes in Yemen.
Western intelligence agencies believe that the crown prince authorised the murder and dismemberment of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 – though he denies this.
Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Nathan Collins fouls Manchester City’s Jack Grealish leading to a red card. City went on to win the match at Molineux Stadium three goals to nil.
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Members of the public stand in the queue near Tower Bridge, and opposite the Tower of London, as they wait in line to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II, in London
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Members of the public in the queue on in Potters Fields Park, central London, as they wait to view Queen Elizabeth II lying in state ahead of her funeral on Monday
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The first members of the public pay their respects as the vigil begins around the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Hall, London, where it will lie in state ahead of her funeral on Monday
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Crowds cheer as King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort arrive for a visit to Hillsborough Castle
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Crowds line the Royal Mile, Edinburgh, as King Charles III joins a procession from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles’ Cathedral following the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II
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Members of the Public pay their respects as the hearse carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland, is driven through Ballater
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Britain’s Prince William, Prince of Wales, Britain’s Catherine, Princess of Wales, Britain’s Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Britain’s Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, wave at well-wishers on the Long walk at Windsor Castle
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King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort wave after viewing floral tributes to the late Queen Elizabeth II outside Buckingham Palace
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A screen commemorating Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II in Piccadilly Circus, London Britain
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Police officers stand guard after Animal Rebellion activists threw paint on the walls and road outside the Houses of Parliament in protest, in London, Britain
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Queen Elizabeth II welcomes Liz Truss during an audience at Balmoral, Scotland, where she invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative party to become Prime Minister and form a new government
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Visitors at the PoliNations garden in Victoria Square, Birmingham, which is made up of five 40ft high tree installations and over 6,000 plants. The PoliNations programme aims to explore how migration and cross-pollination have shaped the UK’s gardens and culture
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Undergraduates at the University of St Andrews take part in the traditional Pier Walk along the harbour walls of St Andrews before the start of the new academic year
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The Massed Pipes and Drums parade during the Braemar Highland Gathering at the Princess Royal and Duke of Fife Memorial Park
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Number 12 Company Irish Guards at Wellington Barracks, central London, before commencing their first Guard Mount at Buckingham Palace
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A salmon leaps up the weir at Hexham in Northumberland, despite the drought warnings and low water levels, the River Tyne is still flowing well allowing the salmon and sea trout to head up river to spawn. Every year tens of thousands of salmon make the once-in-a-lifetime journey along the Tyne to spawn, having been out a sea
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Flowers are placed at the gates outside Kensington Palace, London, the former home of Diana, Princess of Wales, on the 25th anniversary of her death
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Edinburgh’s waste workers clearing mountains of rubbish at Forrest Road as they return to work following their 11 days of industrial action
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Competitors take part in the World Gravy Wrestling Championships at the Rose ‘N’ Bowl, in Rossendale, Lancashire
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People from the Emancipated Run Crew who are running the carnival parade all in green to remember the 72 people that died in the Grenfell fire during the Family Day at the Notting Hill Carnival in London, which returned to the streets for the first time on two years, after it was thwarted by the pandemic
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Competitors in the bog section during Rude Health Bog Triathlon at Llanwrtyd Wells, in Wales
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Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson meets patient Rita Thomson after she had a complete hip replacement during a visit to South West London Orthopaedic Centre
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Finney Harrod receiving his GCSE results at Norwich School, in Norwich, Norfolk
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A young girl lays a tribute in Kingsheath Avenue, Knotty Ash, Liverpool, where nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel was fatally shot on Monday night
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Florists prepare the entrance to 10 Downing Street with flowers in the Ukraine national colors in London
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17-year-old pilot Mack Rutherford lands at Biggin Hill Airport, Westerham, Kent, as he continues in his bid to beat the Guinness World Record for the youngest person to fly around the world solo in a small plane
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Members of the Unite union man a picket line at one of the entrances to the Port of Felixstowe in Suffolk, Britain’s biggest and busiest container port, after backing industrial action by 9-1 in a dispute over pay
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A young girl dances in Belfast City Centre during the first Mela Carnival, in which participants from more than 20 different cultura groups don traditional costumes to celebrate Northern Ireland’s cultural diversity
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Commuters queue for buses outside Victoria underground train station which is closed due to strike action
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Pupils celebrate with their A-level results at Norwich School, Norwich
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Rishi Sunak looks at a NLAW anti tank launcher, supplied to Ukraine, during a campaign visit to Thales Defence System plant in Belfast, as part of his campaign to be leader of the Conservative Party and the next prime minister
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Protesters gather outside Perth Concert Hall in Scotland, where Conservative leadership hopefuls, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak are due to take part in an hustings event
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A van from the company Bishop’s Move, which specialises in removals, storage and shipping, outside Downing Street, London
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A part of a £45m furnace straddles the central reservation as it is moved along the M53 which was closed between junction 5 at Hooton and junction 10 for Cheshire Oaks, to accommodate the abnormal load heading to Essar’s Stanlow refinery
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Dry grass in Eastville Park, Bristol. The Met Office has issued an amber warning for extreme heat covering four days from Thursday to Sunday for parts of England and Wales
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Dust from a quarry behind a balloon flying at the annual Bristol International Balloon Fiesta
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Aung-Bo, a 21-year-old asian elephant is cooled down by a keeper at Chester Zoo during the heatwave
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A tanker from Thames Water delivers a temporary water supply to the village of Northend in Oxfordshire, where the water company is pumping water into the supply network following a technical issue at Stokenchurch Reservoir
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Students (from left) Sophie Thwaites, Aaliyah McLaine, Michael Stewart, Aaron Boyack and Claire McNab at Auchmuty High School in Glenrothes, Fife, check their results as high school pupils across Scotland find out their exam results
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James Willstrop and Declan James of Team England compete with Adrian Waller and Daryl Selby of Team England during the squash men’s doubles gold medal match on the last day of the Commonwealth Games
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Ojie Edoburun of England takes the gold medal in the 4×100 Men’s Relay on Day 10 of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham
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People walk on parched ground in Greenwich Park in London
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England’s Anthony Harding and England’s Jack Laugher competes to win and take the gold medal in the men’s synchronised 3m springboard diving final on day eight of the Commonwealth Games at Sandwell Aquatics Centre in Birmingham, central England
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The Top Secret Drum Corps from Switzerland during the working rehearsal for this year’s Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, entitled Voices, at Redford Barracks, Edingburgh
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England’s Emily Campbell celebrates after winning gold in the women’s 87+kg weightlifting at the Commonwealth Games
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Circus company Lost in Translation show off some tricks at the top of Calton Hill in Edinburgh
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England’s players celebrate during a victory party in Trafalgar Square in central London
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England’s striker Chloe Kelly celebrates after scoring her team second goal during the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 final football match between England and Germany at the Wembley stadium
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People during Belfast Pride parade which returns to the city for the first time since the pandemic
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Hatice Cengiz, the fiancée of the murdered Saudi journalist, said the invitation was a stain on the memory of Queen Elizabeth II and called for the country’s de facto leader to be arrested when he arrives in London.
No 10 did not elaborate on why Ms Truss would no longer be meeting with Mr Biden on Sunday as had been planned.
It said only that she “will now hold a full bilateral meeting with US president Joe Biden at the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, instead of the meeting in Downing Street tomorrow”.
Chevening, traditionally the seat of the foreign secretary, was used for the in-person meetings on Saturday because the prime minister’s country house Chequers is said to be under “routine maintenance” after Boris Johnson’s departure.
