Queen Elizabeth II may have played an important but unwitting role in the coup against Iran's prime minister because of a muddled telegram, newly-discovered documents have revealed.
Communications found in Washington DC's archives show bungling US officials accidentally told the Shah of Iran that the monarch had urged him to stay in his country to successfully complete the coup, but she had no involvement at all.
In 1953, Britain's Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden was organising a coup against Mohammad Mossadeq, Iran's prime minister.
Mossadeq had two years earlier secured a unanimous vote in favour of nationalising the country's oil fields, which had been built through the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, later known as British Petroleum (BP).
To restore British control, Eden wanted to replaced him with the shah, an ally to the Western powers such as France, the United States and the UK.
But the shah was unconvinced by the idea, instead preferring a more comfortable life in exile, having already lived in Italy after being removed.
Looking to convince the royal by other means, Eden sent a telegram to Washington DC, urging them to put pressure on the shah to stay in Iran so that the coup could be carried out.
Eden was on board the RMS Queen Elizabeth at the time, a luxury liner that travelled across the Atlantic.
A US telegram is then sent to their ambassador in Tehran, Loy Henderson, saying: 'Foreign Office this afternoon informed us of receipt message from Eden from Queen Elizabeth expressing concern at latest developments re Shah and strong hope we can find some means of dissuading him from leaving country.'
It is believed that US officials so badly misunderstood the message, that they through Eden was speaking on behalf of Queen Elizabeth, rather than the fact he was on board the ship carrying her name.
Richard Aldrich, one of the two historians who discovered the key documents in Washington's archives, told The Times: 'In 40 years as a historian this is the most astonishing collection of documents I have ever seen.'
Henderson then met with the shah’s entourage, while the leader was preparing to flee, describing later in a telegram how he told the shah’s senior minister that in the 'interest of the country' he needed to stay put.
He added that he had received a message from a 'very important personage for whom Shah had most friendly feelings' who had also implied that the shah was better off to stay.
Professor Aldrich said there was no doubt that the shah would have taken that to refer to the Queen.
One's a boat, the other is....
One's a boat, the other is....
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
One's a boat, the other is....
Everything went down with the ship... so to speak.
“In a world whose absurdity appears to be so impenetrable, we simply must reach a greater degree of understanding among us, a greater sincerity.”
Re: One's a boat, the other is....
That ship has sailed. Great story, though.
- MajGenl.Meade
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Re: One's a boat, the other is....
To avoid future confusions, HM will be renamed Boaty McBoatface Windsor
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts
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Re: One's a boat, the other is....
I once crossed the pond on the old RMS Queen Elizabeth. 1956 IIRC. There was a mid-Atlantic storm and a grand total of five people made it down to dinner in the first class restaurant. The Captain, two other passengers, my ex Royal Navy dad and a six year old Andy. I had a cast iron stomach in those days and as you can imagine I was quite the star. We all sat at the Captain's table.
- MajGenl.Meade
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Re: One's a boat, the other is....
You know why the submarine blushed, right?
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts
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Re: One's a boat, the other is....
Something about QE's bottom, I suppose.
-"BB"-
Yes, I suppose I could agree with you ... but then we'd both be wrong, wouldn't we?