In fact, Dickie in 1968 had put forward various names who might be ‘useful’ for such a national government. These included Zuckerman himself, the government’s advisor on nuclear matters; Air Vice-Marshal Deryck Stapleton, a former director of defence plans at the Ministry of Defence, who had retired that month as commandant of the RAF Staff College at Bracknell; Duncan Lewin, a former director of plans at the Admiralty; Lord Beeching, famous for his report on the railways, a deputy chairman of ICI and director of Lloyds Bank; and the businessman Sir Charles ‘Dick’ Troughton, who would become chairman of WH Smith in 1972. The years under Harold Wilson’s premiership saw the abolition of capital punishment and the liberalisation of law on censorship, divorce, abortion, and the decriminalisation of homosexuality. He agreed to meet King, together with the Mirror’s editorial director Hugh Cudlipp, on 8 May at his London home in Kinnerton Street – not the boardroom of the Bank of England as in The Crown – and brought along his unofficial advisor, Solly Zuckerman. Added to this, in 1964, Jim Angleton, the head of the CIA’s Counterintelligence Division, had told MI5, Britain’s domestic security service, that, according to a secret source he declined to divulge, Wilson was a Soviet agent. At the age of seven, Philip came to England and stayed with Lord Mountbatten's family. The plot for a coup never went any further than this conversation, but King – as editor of the Daily Mirror – then published a front page cover calling for and end to Wilson’s government. 'Je ne dirais pas que c'était un coup d'État, mais il était préoccupé par la façon dont le pays allait et il a fait des suggestions, alors il essayait d'être aussi utile que possible.' There were concerns about cuts in the armed forces, a belief that public spending needed to be reduced to help keep interest rates under control, and there were worries about the amount of power wielded by trade unions. I am a public servant and will have nothing to do with it. “Parliament, which had dug its own grave, would temporarily lie in it until national dignity and morale were restored. For the same, Lord Mountbatten was made the last Viceroy of British India and later held the chair of the Governor General of independent India, being the first to do so. As they saw it, Cudlipp had indicated this in his account of the meeting with Mountbatten.”. Les autres morts et blessés dans cet attentat ne sont ” que” des victimes collatérales, selon l’expression consacrée. That’s because it’s clear he was far more involved than he or other collaborators publicly stated. All rights reserved. One other major plot line will Lord Louis Mountbatten’s apparent coup against Harold Wilson, which features in the fifth episode of the new series and is called “Coup” – but what really happened at this time in history? Only a minute or two elapsed between the departures of Zuckerman and King. He said the queen was receiving an unprecedented number of petitions, all of which have to be passed on to the Home Office. All rights belong to Netflix. Prince Charles and Camilla: a history of their romance. Bits and pieces Lord Mountbatten was the brother of Princess Alice of the previous episode, “Bubbikins.” Mountbatten and his sister seemed to have little in common. Lord Mountbatten, the Prince of Wales' great uncle and mentor, came close to leading a group of industrialists, generals and tycoons in the coup to replace then Prime Minister Harold Wilson. You will shortly receive a receipt for your purchase via email. How much of the drama is true? The Queen’s “rebel sister”: 8 facts about Princess Margaret, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip: 8 milestones in their marriage. Mountbatten said it had been suggested, but that he was far too old.”, Lord Mountbatten’s death: how the IRA assassination happened – and what tonight’s BBC Two documentary covers, But when the idea was explained, Mountbatten reportedly turned to Zuckerman and said: “Solly, you haven’t said a word so far. They would seize Heathrow airport, the BBC and Buckingham … Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Tumblr Pinterest Reddit VKontakte Odnoklassniki Pocket Skype Messenger Messenger WhatsApp Telegram Viber Line Share via Email Print. What actually.. Thatcher and Queen Elizabeth II: what was their relationship like? Louis Mountbatten, 1er comte Mountbatten de Birmanie (né prince Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas von Battenberg le 25 juin 1900 et mort le 27 août 1979), amiral de la flotte et homme d'État, fut le dernier vice-roi de l'Inde britannique et premier gouverneur général de l'Inde indépendante. PRINCE PHILIP AND MOUNTBATTEN. The fifth episode of The Crown season three is titled ‘Coup’ – which is pretty accurate, as the drama shows newspaper boss and Bank of England director … In the third series, the show covers the years 1964 to around 1976 and the inspired-by-real-events plot will cover the Aberfan disaster, Harold Wilson’s time as Prime Minister and Princess Anne’s affair with Roddy Llewellyn. The party of seven aboard the Shadow included Mountbatten, his daughter Patricia, her husband, Lord John Brabourne, their 14-year-old twins, Timothy and Nicholas, and Lord … In 1974 the Army occupied Heathrow Airport on the grounds of training for possible IRA terrorist action at the airport. RING us on 0207 782 4104 or WHATSAPP on 07423720250 or EMAIL exclusive@the-sun.co.uk I am a public servant and will have nothing to do with it. How Prince Philip was related to Lord Mountbatten, the last viceroy of India. Stirling’s plan was simple: should civil unrest result in the breakdown of normal government operations, Great Britain 75 would take over. ... Mountbatten, he would later adopt). Lord Snowdon and Princess Margaret: why did their marriage break down? “Dickie was immensely worried, and I was not surprised when he again said that with all his political experience, he might have made a better job of leading the country than had Attlee.”. Save up to 72% and get your first 6 issues for only £9.99! The fifth episode of the third season of The Crown, ‘Coup’, discusses the possible involvement in 1968 of Lord Mountbatten in a potential coup against the Labour government of Harold Wilson. "Olding": Was the Queen's personal art historian Anthony Blunt a Soviet spy? Recommandé pour vous en fonction de ce qui est populaire • Avis Enter your email address now to receive news, features, podcasts and more, Thanks for signing up to receive our royal newsletter, Register to HistoryExtra now to manage your newsletter preferences, By entering your details, you are agreeing to HistoryExtra's terms and conditions. According to Cudlipp, a meeting between King, Mountbatten … Lord Mountbatten: Did Prince Philip’s uncle attempt to lead a coup against Harold Wilson’s government? Zuckerman was being interviewed the following day by Barrie Penrose and Roger Courtiour who were writing a book about the plotting against Wilson. According to Wright’s telling of the event, Mountbatten regarded this as treason, so refused to go along with idea. That might have been the end of the matter, but seven years later Cudlipp referred to the meeting in his memoirs, an account that was challenged by King who argued that: “The interview with Mountbatten, at which I was present, had no resemblance to the one described in your book.”, He released his diary entry for the May 1968 meeting, which gave a very different version of events: “Dickie does not really have his ear to the ground or understand politics. He said it had. King was sacked as chairman of the umbrella publishing group, International Publishing Corporation, 21 days later. Other than his service at the Navy, Lord Mountbatten assisted in the Britain’s exit from India and the latter’s emergence as one of the independent nations of the world. Read more from the experts…. In April … He and Edwina [Mountbatten’s wife] would have known how to handle the settling of ex-serviceman, and so on and so on. Outstanding scene of fellowship accompanied by "Auld Lang Syne". In July 1977, Zuckerman ran into Harold Wilson, who had unexpectedly resigned the previous year, at the queen’s jubilee party at Buckingham Palace. Le prince Philip, duc d'Edimbourg, et son oncle Louis Mountbatten assistent à la première du film Les 55 Jours de Pékin, le 7 mai 1963. Discover more real history behind The Crown – plus our exclusive episode guides– here, Andrew Lownie is founder of the Andrew Lownie Literary Agency and the author of several books including The Mountbattens: Their Lives and Loves (BLINK Publishing, 2019). They then referred to Cudlipp’s account of the meeting with Mountbatten and explained that their MI5 informant had told them that the danger of a military takeover had been real. He wanted to return to the navy, but other ideas had been mooted, such as his becoming the governor-general of Australia. In short, yes. You can unsubscribe at any time, He also suggested Sir William Armstrong, the head of the Home Civil Service; Sir Michael Cary, the second permanent under secretary at defence, dealing with the Royal Navy; and Jimmy Carreras, head of Hammer Film Productions – a “great go-getter” whom Mountbatten had met through the Variety Club. Le coup d’État est éventé. The assassination of Mountbatten was the first blow struck against the British royal family by the IRA during its long terrorist campaign to drive the British out of Northern Ireland and unite it with the Republic of Ireland to the south. At exactly 11.45am, just as their boat reached the lobster pots, a few hundred yards away on the cliff top overlooking the bay, the PIRA team pressed the button which activated the bomb they had planted on the boat, moored in the bay, the night before. The illegal action would be backed by sympathetic members of the army and the far-right nationalist patriot militias that had sprung up around the country. Their tempestuous relationship with Greece culminated in a coup d’état in 1922. Lord Mountbatten: Did Prince Philip’s uncle attempt to lead a coup against Harold Wilson’s government? To cultivate these connections, Philip was sent to a traditional preparatory school, Cheam, in Hampshire, between 1928 and 1933. Thank you for subscribing to HistoryExtra, you now have unlimited access. "There were also allegations that Wilson was a Soviet agent. He talked as though there was nothing that he could not do.”, In 1951, Zuckerman and Mountbatten had met again at a cocktail party given at Admiralty House: “He drew me aside, and we had a long talk about many things, but particularly about the sorry state of the country,” Zuckerman later wrote. The royal family were forced into exile. Membre proche de la famille royale, il est assassiné par lIRA provisoire. Il se réunit en cachette, entouré de Cecil King, directeur de la Banque d’Angleterre et du groupe média Mirror. The scheme would be a full-scale coup d’etat including the seizure of Heathrow, the BBC and Buckingham Palace. Harold Wilson had come to power in 1964, but by 1968 was beset with economic problems and industrial unrest. According to Dickie, she is desperately worried over the whole situation.”, A file note in Zuckerman’s private papers suggests that the collaborators had agreed a public version of events: “All I hope is that Dickie did not go beyond what we had agreed. Il n’en a pas le temps. Essentially, in 1968, a newspaper editor and Bank of England director, Cecil King, attempted to persuade Lord Mountbatten to lead a coup d'état against Wilson's Labour government. persuade Lord Mountbatten to lead a coup d’état against Wilson’s Labour government. Deux événements qui incitent plusieurs chefs d'entreprise à imaginer un coup d'État orchestré par l'oncle du prince Philip . The Crown has returned to Netflix, and with it, we have our new queen, Olivia Colman, playing the actual queen. By entering your details, you are agreeing to HistoryExtra terms and conditions and privacy policy. "There were concerns about cuts in the armed forces, a belief that public spending needed to be reduced, and tougher laws needed against the trade unions," he said. Cudlipp explained King’s thinking in the book as: “A new administration would be urgently required, perhaps a new regime if only for a limited period, dominated by new men or at any rate not by political hacks. According to the writer Charles Higham: “One who took the plot seriously, perhaps too seriously was Marcia Williams, Harold Wilson’s secretary, who apparently spoke to the press at a later stage, talking of Mountbatten as ‘a prime mover in the plan’. She added ‘Mountbatten had a map on the wall of his office showing how it could be done. According to Cudlipps’s autobiography, King asked Mountbatten if he would “agree to be the titular head of a new administration”, to which Zuckerman responded by getting up to leave, saying: “This is rank treachery. Amongst those who had been approached was David Stirling, the founder of the SAS, who in the mid-1970s had created an organisation called Great Britain 75, recruiting members from the aristocratic clubs in Mayfair – mainly ex-military men (often former SAS members). Lord Mountbatten est relevé de ses fonctions de chef d'État-major par le Premier ministre Harold Wilson, qui doit ensuite dévaluer la livre sterling. Symbole multiple d’ailleurs. The official website for BBC History Magazine and BBC History Revealed, Try 6 issues of BBC History Magazine or BBC History Revealed for only £9.99, The fifth episode of season three of The Crown sees royal family member Lord Mountbatten approached to lead a coup against Harold Wilson’s struggling Labour government. Although its claim that Mountbatten was motivated by pique at being sacked as chief of the defence staff is incorrect – Mountbatten retired naturally in 1965 at the age of 65 – there were certainly plans for such a coup. Le coup d’État de lord Mountbatten dans The Crown. India Today 24 mins ago. The fact of the matter is – as Hugh Cudlipp knows only too well – that Dickie was really intrigued by Cecil King’s suggestion that he should become the boss man of a ‘government’… When I saw Dickie at Prince Philip’s diner party on 17th November, three nights after I started to dictate this note, he seemed very pleased with himself and thought the whole matter was settled – once again implying that his record of what had happened in an event would be the statement which history would accept.”, Want to know even more about the real events from history that inspired the drama? Ce dernier insiste sur la nécessité d’obtenir un accord de la reine, qu’il se charge de lui demander. The truth behind the viral TikTok trend, Why there will not be a bank holiday for the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral, What my new 1257L tax code means and full list of HMRC changes for 2021/22, Why the Queen enters eight days of mourning following the death of Prince Philip, From his mother and father to his siblings, Duke of Edinburgh's family tree explained, How to claim the 4th SEISS payment, the application explained and latest on when you can apply, How I manage my money: A 22-year-old trainee accountant earning £1,414 a month, 2021 tax credit changes explained - and when the one-off £500 payment is paid, Klopp: Mane's goalscoring problems are mental, not physical. You're now subscribed to our newsletter. On this podcast, Andrew Lownie discusses the colourful and controversial lives of Louis and Edwina Mountbatten: Mountbatten expressed his agreement and Sir Solly departed. At the end of April, King approached Mountbatten to sound him out about possibly becoming part of it. Etant donnée l’époque dans laquelle nous vivons, nous sommes tous susceptibles d’être un jour victime d’un attentat, ici ou là. Indeed, if The Crown had drawn on my recent book The Mountbattens: Their Lives and Loves, which looks at the private correspondence of those involved in the coup, they might have stressed a greater role for Mountbatten. Parliament would remain the legislative chamber but it was futile to look solely to Parliament for the leadership required.”, King also referred to the idea in his diary and wrote: “Hugh asked him [Mountbatten] if it had been suggested to him that our present style of government might be in for a change. You have successfully linked your account! All this talk of machine guns at street corners is appalling. Lord Mountbatten était un symbole. Sorry, there was a problem with your subscription. Husband of Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip died on Friday. Historian Alex von Tunzelmann, drawing on private information from Buckingham Palace, has suggested the advice came from elsewhere. A real coup d’etat was never launched in 1968, but there were rumours of a coup being planned at the time. “Coup” comes from the French and is usually considered short for a coup d’état, which means an overthrow of the government. Some context: By 1968, Prime Minister Harold Wilson's government was beset with economic problems and industrial unrest, Lownie explains. After Solly had gone, Mountbatten said he had been lunching at the Horse Guards and that morale in the armed forces had never been so low. Perhaps there should be something like the Emergency Committee I ran in India”. Retaining the royals: why has the British monarchy survived – and thrived. Ils demandent à lord Mountbatten de devenir leur figure de proue et l’éventuel Premier ministre du pays. All this talk of machine guns at street corners is appalling. Lord Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, died on 27 August, 1979, aged 79, while on a family trip to Ireland, at the height of the Troubles. Retired intelligence officers gathered with military brass and plotted a coup d'etat. Zuckerman later wrote in his memoirs: “The one job that he felt that he could have done was that of prime minister, but that office had been closed down to him because of his royal connections. If you subscribe to BBC History Magazine Print or Digital Editions then you can unlock 10 years’ worth of archived history material fully searchable by Topic, Location, Period and Person. For months during 1968, media tycoon and Bank of England director Cecil King publicly advocated the formation of a coalition government. Please enter your number below. King apparently believed that the country was headed for political and economic collapse, which is why he wanted to put Mountbatten in power. Lord Mountbatten : Gentlemen. You can unsubscribe at any time. The 1968 coup was only part of an ongoing battle that continued throughout the 1970s between politicians – in particular, Harold Wilson – and the ‘secret state’, largely represented by MI5.