 The appointment of a Prime Minister remained part of the royal prerogative , on which the monarch had no constitutional duty to consult an outgoing Prime Minister . Nevertheless , Macmillan advised the Queen that he considered Home the right choice . Little of this was known beyond the senior ranks of the party and the royal secretariat . On 18 October The Times ran the headline , " The Queen May Send for Mr. Butler Today " . The Daily Telegraph and The Financial Times also predicted that Butler was about to be appointed . The Queen sent for Home the same day . Aware of the divisions within the governing party , she did not appoint him Prime Minister , but invited him to see whether he was able to form a government . 
