King Charles III has left social media users in hysterics following his response to once again having to meet with UK prime minister Liz Truss.
Per The Guardian, the meeting was part of the PM's first weekly audience with the new King - and despite greeting King Charles III with a smile and a curtsy, Truss probably didn't get the warm reception she was hoping for.
In a short clip from Wednesday's meeting, Truss can be seen entering a room in Buckingham Palace, curtsying, and greeting the monarch with a very respectful, "Your Majesty".
However, following a turbulent few weeks for the UK government, King Charles III replied with a sharp and witty: "So you’ve come back again?"
When Truss replied by saying, "It's a great pleasure", cameras caught King Charles replying: "Dear, oh dear. Anyway..."
The short clip quickly went viral on social media, amassing millions of views and comments from amused viewers.
Check out the moment below:"This is one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen," wrote one Twitter user who shared the clip.
A second Twitter user added: "First time in my life I’ve felt warmer about an unelected figurehead’s feelings about an unelected figurehead’s arrival. Who, on this planet, can take Truss seriously? Not just as PM, but as a person?"
Dr Jennifer Cassidy, a lecturer in diplomacy at Oxford University, described the moment as "a scene straight from The Office", before adding: "Political awkwardness and unintentional comedy at its finest."
Over on Instagram, one unforgiving person commented: "Sounds like the headmaster talking to the notorious vandal yute in secondary school."
Another captioned the moment: "When you're gaming with the lads and your girl comes home early."
One Instagram user even pointed out the similarity between King Charles and his late father, Prince Philip: "Just like his dear Papa was... who knew"
Others took aim at the PM's curtsey, with one person writing: "I’m pretty sure I can curtsy better than Liz Truss. And I’m a man, and a wheelchair user."
Over the last few weeks, Truss's government has faced criticism as the pound continued to drop against the dollar.
The new Prime Minister - who took over from Boris Johnson at the start of September - announced plans to generate UK economic growth by cutting taxes not long after arriving in Number 10. However, after her newly appointed chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announced a "mini-budget" to slash taxes, the pound fell to an all-time record low on September 26 - dropping by almost 5% overnight, The Guardian reports.
Speaking on BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg earlier this month, Truss pointed to Russia's invasion of Ukraine as the reason for the mini-budget, saying: "This is a global problem. You have got [Vladimir] Putin’s war in Ukraine, the aftermath of Covid. What is happening around the world is that interest rates are rising."
"I’m afraid there is an issue that interest rates are going up around the world and we do have to face that," the PM added, per The Independent.