CONFIDENTIAL
open to pressure by the Chinese; and once a visit had been announced it could not be cancelled on
account of Chinese pressure without major loss
of face and a real crisis in Anglo-Chinese
relations.
3. I know this decision will be a considerable disappointment to you, and I would like you to know that we did not simply look up the old papers
and adhere to past doctrine. We and the Foreign
Office have considered the whole matter afresh in
the light of the considerations set out in your letter to me of September 6th, because we entirely agree with you that a visit by The Queen would be tremendously welcome and do much to improve the feelings of the people of Hong Kong towards Britain. You may like to know that Donald Hopson himself, whom of course the Foreign Office consulted, does
not rate the risks of a visit by The Queen so high as did his predecessor in 1964. Nevertheless the considered advice of the Foreign Office, with which
I am afraid we have felt bound to agree, is that
the real basic dilemma still remains, as set out in Higham's letter of 18th November 1964.
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4. A point of detail that you may like to know
is that if The Queen does go to South East Asia and we will of course let you know the decision on
when it is taken this point as soon as possible it looks as though
Her visit would be in late January or early February,
which would not fit in with the dates for the
opening of the Plover Cove scheme anyway.
5.
We are still pursuing your alternative suggestion of a visit by Prince Charles.
We in
the Commonwealth Office fully share your view that such a visit would mean a lot in Hong Kong, and that it would be an easy and pleasing duty for him to undertake. We are also hopeful that expert advice will agree that this proposal would not be open to the difficulties that stand in the way of a visit by The Queen. But, as you will now know, Prince Charles is due to go to Cambridge
in October, and we are not sure when he will begin to undertake public/duties of this kind. We will however write to you again on this as soon as we
can.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.