TrueBlueTerrier wrote:Lounge Lizard wrote:cliffeyhez wrote:Bring on the coup. :dcfo :ncfo :vcfo
But how close was Britain to a military coup under Labour in the 1970s, Mountbatten most likely to take over ( a few years before the IRA blew him up ) ?
Well thats good in a strange way, imagine if Mountbatten had taken over would he be the UKs version of the "Eternal Leader" and would we all have to celebrate his birthday every year, a bit like North Korea.
- and his cake shops on every high street instead of Greggs's [ Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas George Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, KG, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, DSO, PC, FRS was born Prince Louis of BATTENBURG ]
As for "Eternal Leader" he would be nearly 112 years old now, but since Mountbatten had no sons, when he was created Viscount on 23 August 1946, then Earl and Baron on 28 October 1947, the Letters Patent were drafted such that in the event he left no sons or issue in the male line, the titles could pass to his daughters, Patricia and pamela, in order of seniority of birth, and to their heirs male respectively.
Regarding the coup plot, I've just found "Alleged plots against Harold Wilson. Peter Wright, in his book Spycatcher, claimed that in 1967 Mountbatten attended a private meeting with press baron and MI5 agent Cecil King, and the Government's chief scientific adviser, Solly Zuckerman. King and Peter Wright were members of a group of thirty MI5 officers who wanted to stage a coup against the then crisis-stricken Labour Government of Harold Wilson, and King allegedly used the meeting to urge Mountbatten to become the leader of a government of national salvation. Solly Zuckerman pointed out that it was treason, and the idea came to nothing because of Mountbatten's reluctance to act. In 2006 the BBC documentary The Plot Against Harold Wilson alleged that there had been another plot involving Mountbatten to oust Wilson during his second term in office (1974–76). The period was characterised by high inflation, increasing unemployment and widespread industrial unrest. The alleged plot centred around right-wing former military figures who were supposedly building private armies to counter the perceived threat from trade unions and the Soviet Union. They believed that the Labour Party, which is partly funded by affiliated trade unions, was unable and unwilling to counter these developments and that Wilson was either a Soviet agent or at the very least a Communist sympathiser – claims Wilson strongly denied. The documentary alleged that a coup was planned to overthrow Wilson and replace him with Mountbatten using the private armies and sympathisers in the military and MI5. The documentary stated that Mountbatten and other members of the British Royal Family supported the plot and were involved in its planning."
