Royal Family Twitter Still/ Fair Use The Queen has spoken to the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, ahead of the Budget as her string of video and telephone engagements continues. Her Majesty held her traditional pre-Budget audience with the Chancellor on March 2 nd 2021. However, the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown meant that the custom had to be carried out by phone rather than in person. The audience came just hours after a phone audience in her capacity as Head of The Armed Forces. The Queen spoke to The Chief of the General Staff, Sir Mark Carleton-Smith, for a briefing on the continuing work being undertaken by the military to support communities across the UK during the pandemic. They also discussed operational matters including overseas deployments.