The Queen will not travel to London to bid a formal farewell to outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson next week.
The 96-year-old monarch will receive the ousted PM at Balmoral Castle in Scotland instead, it has been announced, amid ongoing concerns over her health.
His visit will shortly be followed by an audience with Britain's new Prime Minister, a Buckingham Palace spokesperson says.
Her Majesty will welcome either Rishi Sunak or Liz Truss, who are nearing the end of their battle to become the next Tory leader.
The ceremony will mark the first time a new premier has been appointed away from Buckingham Palace during the Queen's 70-year reign.
The last PM to be appointed away from Buckingham Palace came more than a century ago, with King Edward VII asking Herbert Henry Asquith to form a goverment in Biarritz, on France’s Basque coast in 1908.
The Queen will greet the new leader on September 6 as Mr Johnson - deposed after a massive Tory revolt last month - hands back the keys to no10.
It will take place at her residence in the Scottish Highlands, where she is on her traditional summer break.
Foreign Secretary Ms Truss appears on track to win, with more support in the party’s 175,000-strong membership.
Voting will close on Friday before the result is officially announced on Monday.
The decision to host the meeting in Scotland - rather than in the capital or at her Windsor Castle home - is reported to have been "taken now to provide certainty for Mr Johnson’s diary".
If the Queen had experienced an episodic mobility issue next week and the plan had been to travel to London or Windsor, it would have led to alternative arrangements at the last minute.
The Queen’s traditional welcome to Balmoral Castle was axed earlier this month, prompting fresh fears for her health.
Her Majesty had been due to attend the ceremony in Scotland on August 8 but it was cancelled - and swiftly replaced with a “small, private event”.
The sovereign was forced to miss other events this summer, including a Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral and the Epsom Derby due to tiredness.
The Queen has been staying at the smaller Craigowan Lodge on her estate since arriving in Scotland on July 21.
It has recently had a “wheelchair-friendly” lift fitted ahead of the Queen’s plans to spend more time at the retreat in the Highlands. A new security gate, intercom system and CCTV cameras have also been installed.
The event at Balmoral comes as the shameless outgoing Tory leader has refused to rule out a political comeback as he faced his final days in Downing Street.
Asked if he would rule out a comeback, he told reporters: "I think on the whole people in this country are more interested in their gigabit broadband than they are in the fate of this or that politician."
His exit was triggered by the row over the handling of allegations of inappropriate behaviour made against former deputy chief whip Chris Pincher.
Asked if he had regrets about the way the allegations were dealt with, Mr Johnson said: "All those things have to be handled carefully and sensitively and we have processes for dealing with them, and people who have complaints should raise them in the normal way."
