CAB129-53 — Page 207

Page 207

Printed for the Cabinet. July 1952

CONFIDENTIAL

C. (52) 235 10th July, 1952

CABINET OFFICE RECORD COPY

Copy No. 62

CABINET

CORONATION: PART TO BE PLAYED BY INDIA

MEMORANDUM BY THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR COMMONWEALTH RELATIONS

The question arises of the part to be played by India in the Coronation ceremony. 2. As a result of informal enquiry it has been ascertained that the Prime Minister of India would be willing to accept an invitation from The Queen_ to attend the Coronation Service. The question now to be considered is whether India should be given the opportunity of participating in the attendant ceremonial, e.g., by taking part in processions, sending a contingent from the Armed Forces, &c., on the same footing as the other Members of the Commonwealth.

3. Logically, it can be argued that there is no ground for such participation. India does not accept the Sovereignty of The Queen or admit allegiance to Her Majesty, but only recognises The Queen as Head of the Commonwealth. It can be argued with much justification that it is anomalous that a country in this position should, on an occasion of this kind, be treated in the same way as those who fully accept the Sovereignty and admit the allegiance. It is indeed possible that some Members of the Commonwealth, and especially Pakistan, would resent strongly India being placed on the same footing as themselves. It is, moreover, not clear at present whether the Government of India themselves would wish to participate in exactly the same way as the other Members of the Commonwealth, having regard to the special constitutional position of India as a Republic.

4. On the other hand, if it were the desire of India to participate on the same footing as the other Members, it would be politically most undesirable not to give her the opportunity of doing so. Not only would this have a most unfortunate effect on relations with India, but the absence of India might well be represented by unfriendly foreign countries as evidence of internal dissension within the Commonwealth and a sign of its impending dissolution.

5. On balance, therefore, I feel that it would be desirable to ascertain informally from the Prime Minister of India whether he would desire that India should participate in the same way as the other Members of the Commonwealth. I should propose that the enquiry should be so framed as to elicit a reply that Mr. Nehru would be content if he himself were present at the Coronation Service and any attendant ceremonies, or at any rate would not wish that India should participate to the same extent as those Members of the Commonwealth which owe allegiance to The Queen. For example, he might not send any Indian contingent to take part in the Coronation Procession or, if he sent one, he might be satisfied that it should participate on a somewhat different footing from those of other Commonwealth countries.

6. If this were Mr. Nehru's reply, it would not be necessary (as it might be if India were participating on precisely the same scale as other Members of the Commonwealth) to arrange that representatives of India should take part in the preparations for the Coronation in the same way as representatives of the other Commonwealth Governments, i.e., that the High Commissioner for India in London should be a member of the Coronation Joint Committee or that India should be given the opportunity of nominating representatives to the Coronation Commission itself. Details of the various arrangements affecting India could be settled by separate discussion with the High Commissioner.

7. Presumably the next step will be to ascertain the views of The Queen on this question. It would then be possible to make enquiries through the Acting United Kingdom High Commissioner in India on the lines indicated in paragraph 5 above.

Pagenopfenth Relations Office, S.W. I,

S.

Page 207

Toth July, 1952.

42540

224

THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HER BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT