CONFIDENTIAL
this period could be slightly reduced if absolutely essential,
The necessary ovent planning for such a visit would take three
months. The date of the inauguration of the water scheme can be
at any time after 1 October, 1968. The Governor has advised
against bringing the date forward because of the risk of heavy ruin
or of the ceremony having to be cancelled altogether because of
typhoon conditions, On this basis, a decision on whether the
visit should take place will need to be made not later than mid-June
and an announcement about it will need to be sade by the end of
June or shortly afterwards,
7. If we were asked to advise at this point of time on wheth
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Royal visit should take place or not, we think we would have to
advise against it, But for the reasons given in paragraph 3 we
are reluctant to rule out entirely at this stage the possibility of
a visit by a male member of the Royal Family. We would therefore
like a decision to be postponed until we have been able to discuss
the matter once more with the Governor who will be visiting London
at the end of April.
8. The Foreign office concur in the above vior.
Hong Kong Department 13 March, 1968
CONFIDENTIAL
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