# Would it be fair to guess...\[how many prime ministers Queen Elizabeth has met\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 15, 2016, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-fair-to-guess-how-many-prime-ministers-queen-elizabeth-has-met/759944 "2016-07-15T01:20:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-fair-to-guess-how-many-prime-ministers-queen-elizabeth-has-met/759944/1 "2016-07-15T01:20:37Z")
…HM the Queen Elizabeth has met at least 17 Prime Ministers of England? When her father reigned surely she was nearby during a weekly meeting and it’s not unthinkable previous PMs were in similar social circles, if I understand the doings around royals in their homes correctly. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-fair-to-guess-how-many-prime-ministers-queen-elizabeth-has-met/759944/2 "2016-07-15T02:03:47Z")
Well, she has obviously met the 13 who have served as PM since her accession. It’s likely that she met at least some of those who served under her father, but not under her. The weekly meeting is always private - just the monarch and the PM - but there will have been other functions (ceremonial, official and social) that, as monarch-in-waiting, she will have attended as part of her preparation for the role, and I think it’s highly likely that, as heir presumptive, she met at least Clement Atlee. She was only 11 when Stanley Baldwin left office, and 14 when Neville Chamberlain resigned, so she may not have met them while they were serving. Chamberlain died shortly afterwards, but Baldwin lived until 1947, and it’s entirely possible that she met him. If she didn’t meet Atlee while he was in office, she almost certainly would have later. He was Leader of the Opposition until 1955, three years into her reign, and didn’t die until 1967. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-fair-to-guess-how-many-prime-ministers-queen-elizabeth-has-met/759944/3 "2016-07-15T02:04:00Z")
Reported for more descriptive title. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-fair-to-guess-how-many-prime-ministers-queen-elizabeth-has-met/759944/4 "2016-07-15T02:13:03Z")
**Moderator Note** Title edited to more clearly indicate the topic. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-fair-to-guess-how-many-prime-ministers-queen-elizabeth-has-met/759944/5 "2016-07-15T02:29:13Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > **Moderator Note** > > Title edited to more clearly indicate the topic. Thanks! A thousand pardons, I thought the first sentence or so showed on mouse-over. It is just 12 different ministers since her accession, isn’t it, Wilson serving twice? ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-fair-to-guess-how-many-prime-ministers-queen-elizabeth-has-met/759944/6 "2016-07-15T02:33:41Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > She was only 11 when Stanley Baldwin left office, and 14 when Neville Chamberlain resigned, so she may not have met them while they were serving. Chamberlain died shortly afterwards, but Baldwin lived until 1947, and it’s entirely possible that she met him. Chamberlain spent part of the weeks before the Munich Conference on holiday at Balmoral, shooting with King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. The odds would be pretty good that he at least met the king’s daughters while he was there. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-fair-to-guess-how-many-prime-ministers-queen-elizabeth-has-met/759944/7 "2016-07-15T03:07:35Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > …HM the Queen Elizabeth has met at least 17 Prime Ministers of England? . To be pedantic, QEII has met no Prime Ministers of England, rather her government is headed by the Prime Minister of Great Britain. If you want to included all prime ministers she has met (i.e. from the Commonwealth) the list gets the a whole lot bigger, there are currently 38 PMs. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-fair-to-guess-how-many-prime-ministers-queen-elizabeth-has-met/759944/8 "2016-07-15T03:23:56Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > To be pedantic, QEII has met no Prime Ministers of England, rather her government is headed by the Prime Minister of Great Britain. To be _really_ pedantic, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. She has met no Prime Ministers of Great Britain; the last surviving holder of that office died in 1811. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-fair-to-guess-how-many-prime-ministers-queen-elizabeth-has-met/759944/9 "2016-07-15T03:45:05Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > To be pedantic, QEII has met no Prime Ministers of England, rather her government is headed by the Prime Minister of Great Britain. > > If you want to included all prime ministers she has met (i.e. from the Commonwealth) the list gets the a whole lot bigger, there are currently 38 PMs. To be pedantic, QEII is a Cunard ocean liner; if it has met Prime Ministers it doesn’t know it. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-fair-to-guess-how-many-prime-ministers-queen-elizabeth-has-met/759944/10 "2016-07-15T03:59:31Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > To be pedantic, QEII is a Cunard ocean liner; if it has met Prime Ministers it doesn’t know it. She. Ships are shes. Except for Russian ships which are hes. And I can tie that all together if you ask me why fire engines are red. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-fair-to-guess-how-many-prime-ministers-queen-elizabeth-has-met/759944/11 "2016-07-15T04:05:41Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > She. Ships are shes. Except for Russian ships which are hes. And I can tie that all together if you ask me why fire engines are red. B/c ice cream has no bones? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-fair-to-guess-how-many-prime-ministers-queen-elizabeth-has-met/759944/12 "2016-07-15T04:13:03Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > B/c ice cream has no bones? Pretty close, and a lot a shorter too. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-fair-to-guess-how-many-prime-ministers-queen-elizabeth-has-met/759944/13 "2016-07-15T04:44:48Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > Thanks! > A thousand pardons, I thought the first sentence or so showed on mouse-over. > It is just 12 different ministers since her accession, isn’t it, Wilson serving twice? Some of us are on mobile phones and can’t see a mouse-over. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-fair-to-guess-how-many-prime-ministers-queen-elizabeth-has-met/759944/14 "2016-07-15T05:28:24Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > She. Ships are shes. Except for Russian ships which are hes. And I can tie that all together if you ask me why fire engines are red. Are they red all over? ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-fair-to-guess-how-many-prime-ministers-queen-elizabeth-has-met/759944/15 "2016-07-15T05:54:51Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > Thanks! > A thousand pardons, I thought the first sentence or so showed on mouse-over. > It is just 12 different ministers since her accession, isn’t it, Wilson serving twice? Churchill, Eden, McMillan, Douglas-Home, Wilson, Heath, Callaghan, Thatcher, Major, Blair, Brown, Cameron, May. That’s 13. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-fair-to-guess-how-many-prime-ministers-queen-elizabeth-has-met/759944/16 "2016-07-15T06:13:58Z")
I think it would have to be 17 at least. She just acquired the 13th of her own, and I think she would have met all four that were in office during her life before her reign. She met [Ramsay MacDonald](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2146542/Queen-Elizabeth-The-day-Queen-threw-tantrum-tipped-pot-ink-head.html) at some point: > [@](#): > > They took great interest in the various prominent people who came and went, and Lilibet made an effort to read about current affairs. One day, as the Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald bent low over her hand, she said in a clear ringing voice: ‘I saw you in Punch this morning, Mr MacDonald, leading a flock of geese!’ If she met her grandfather’s prime minister at such a young age, I’d be very surprised if she didn’t meet Baldwin or Chamberlain during her father’s reign. (On the off chance that she didn’t meet Attlee while he was in office and she was the adult heiress presumptive, she certainly met him afterwards as she made him a knight of the Garter in 1956.) It could be 18 if she met Lloyd George. It’s not out of the question since he was alive until she was 19 and was an MP until close to the end. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-fair-to-guess-how-many-prime-ministers-queen-elizabeth-has-met/759944/17 "2016-07-15T08:48:25Z")
For comparison, 10 Prime Ministers served under Victoria. A further 5 served during her life, but before her accession - Liverpool, Canning, Goderich, Wellington, Grey. Of these she certainly met Wellington (who lived until 1852) and Goderich (who lived until 1859, and served as President of the Board of Trade in 1841-43) and she quite likely met Grey (who lived until 1845). Liverpool and Canning both died before he tenth birthday and, as she wasn’t brought up at court, it’s quite likely that she never met them. But let’s say that brings her up to 13. We also have to consider Balfour, Campbell-Bannerman and Asquith, who served as Prime Ministers after her death. All three served as government ministers during her reign. And some who served still later as Prime Minister were alive during her reign and, even though not in the ministry or even in Parliament, nevertheless came from circles in which it was possible that they had been at court, and had met her. Winston Churchill in particular leaps to mind. She is probably round about the 17 mark. Of course, the present Queen has undoubtedly met people who will serve as Prime Minister in the future. We just don’t know yet who they are. So her total has yet to be established. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-fair-to-guess-how-many-prime-ministers-queen-elizabeth-has-met/759944/18 "2016-07-15T11:40:26Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > She. Ships are shes. Except for Russian ships which are hes. And I can tie that all together if you ask me why fire engines are red. And Spanish ones, for whom it depends on size (_barcos_ are larger and hes, _barcas_ are smaller and shes). I expect other languages will have their own opinions on the subject. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-fair-to-guess-how-many-prime-ministers-queen-elizabeth-has-met/759944/19 "2016-07-15T16:55:06Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > Churchill, Eden, McMillan, Douglas-Home, Wilson, Heath, Callaghan, Thatcher, Major, Blair, Brown, Cameron, May. That’s 13. But am I right in thinking it’s 12 PMs she’s invited to form a government (as she did PM May this week), Churchill having already begun his term the year before her father passed? Or did she invite him to continue as PM after her accession? I hadn’t thought about it, **UDS** , but you’re right; I’m sure her total will grow well after her death. Much as I’ve read about the 19th and 20th century European and British royals I didn’t know Victoria wasn’t raised at court. It’s hard sometimes for my American brain to get around the logistics of royal life, the things that to them make perfect sense but to me sound dreadful. ---
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-fair-to-guess-how-many-prime-ministers-queen-elizabeth-has-met/759944/20 "2016-07-15T17:04:53Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > To be pedantic, QEII is a Cunard ocean liner; if it has met Prime Ministers it doesn’t know it. Not quite, the QE2 (not QEII) is an ocean liner. Also, as I suspect you know, it’s named after the queen’s mother. (And I refer to all ships as it because they are not people.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-fair-to-guess-how-many-prime-ministers-queen-elizabeth-has-met/759944.md?page=2)