1 November 2005 releases

A personal account from the British attaché to Santiago, Chile about the military coup that overtook the country.

List of guests invited to the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. The list included Jan Christian, the self-styled 'Princess of Pitcairn', despite having never visited the island. The file includes correspondence from officials in Pacific islands complaining about the 'Princess'. The Chief Magistrate of Pitcairn complained that whilst Miss Christian 'may be descended from Fletcher Christian…she has never been to Pitcairn Island so she cannot claim to be a real islander'.

Background briefings on media interest in Britain's nuclear deterrent and on responses to Parliamentary Questions from (among others) Frank Allaun, MP for Salford East and Winston Churchill, MP for Stretford.

The ban on taking weapons into prison, except in a shooting situation, made it impossible to take CR gas (Dibenzoxazephine) inside a prison except in similar circumstances, thus defeating the object of CR. The British Army HQ in Northern Ireland looked at the possibility of an aerial delivery system to bring the gas into a prison without actually deploying it within the prison's perimeter.

Looking into consequences of rising fuel prices in the late 1970s across the spectrum of oil, gas, coal and how it impacts on the quality of life for those on low incomes.

Mrs Sarah Mugabe's application to stay in UK while her husband, Robert Mugabe, was imprisoned in Rhodesia.  Home Office refused to grant Mugabe permission to stay on grounds that she had already been residing in the United Kingdom as a student. Had she been a Rhodesian citizen she would have had the automatic right to stay but as a Ghanaian, she did not, and would be deported.  Contains a letter and telegram from Robert Mugabe to Harold Wilson.

Harry St. John Bridger Philby - the father of Soviet spy 'Kim' Philby - was a former Indian Civil Servant who resigned from government in 1924 because of his belief that British policy in the Middle East was "substantially a breach of faith with the Arabs and as likely to strain the traditional friendship of Briton and Arab in the event of this country becoming engaged in a major war."  Living in Jedda and Mecca, Philby became a close friend and confidential advisor to Ibn Saud and converted to Islam in 1930.

In 1939 Philby returned to England to stand as a candidate for the fascist British People's Party led by the Duke of Bedford. At Ibn Saud's behest Philby returned to Saudi Arabia shortly after his unsuccessful candidacy where he was reported to have made a number of "anti-British" remarks to the French consul in Jedda who reported this "scandalous" incident to the British authorities, whilst admitting it had happened Philby later claimed his remarks had been misinterpreted. The Home Office feared that such remarks would gain "considerable publicity" in the Arab world and that Philby's behaviour was "something approaching an attempt to stir up sedition."

Whilst travelling to America in July 1940 Philby made a twenty-four hour stop over in Karachi, India where he was arrested under Rule 26 (1) (a) of the Defence of India Rules and subsequently deported to England. He was arrested on board SS City of Venice when it docked in Liverpool and was then interned, first in Huyton and then Ascot.

As the file makes clear, Philby's case was complicated by the fact that not only did the Advisory Committee have problems establishing who had recommended Philby's internment, but that they were not told that Philby had been interned at all (Philby's own appeals to the Home Office were never forwarded to the Advisory Committee) and his internment was only discovered by the Advisory Committee during a routine enquiry into unheard cases at Ascot. The file also deals with the wrangle over the loss of Philby's luggage, including some 'irreplaceable' manuscripts.

Australian man in his early 20s jailed during World War II after committing a minor crime, but then detain indefinitely after espousing anti-British/pro-German sentiments. Jarrold was detained from late 1940-1943 despite no charges being laid.

Stephen Hobhouse, the son of The Right Honourable Henry Hobhouse, was sentenced in April 1917 to two year's hard labour for being a contentious objector to World War I. Correspondence in the file calls for Hobhouse's release from Exeter Gaol and a letter from his mother, concerned about the state of her son's mental state after he spent 130 days in solitary confinement.

Naturalisation application of Bulgarian-born German novelist Elias Canetti, thirty years before he won the Nobel Prize for literature. Canetti had a number of high profile sponsors including Sir Gilmore Jenkins, from the Ministry of Transport, who expressed mild concern over the depth of investigation into the author's application.

Joseph Coral's naturalisation application includes the usual questionnaires and reports on the candidate's character. Despite initial concerns over Coral's background as a turf accountant and some minor motoring offences, it was concluded that 'he is not a bad sort of fellow'.

A thin file detailing some of Randolph Churchill's wartime activities with the partisans in Yugoslavia.

A police investigation launched following an editorial in The Sunday Pictorial entitled 'The Spider's Web of Vice' which chronicled the rise of dance halls and bottle parties in London's West End. There is a reference to prostitution in a report entitled Pestering of US serviceman by British girls. 

Priority filming of state ceremonies and important events where there is only room for one crew to operate or where there are sensitivities.  BBC was offered priority but both BBC and ITA were to have own commentators.

Proposals for the vacant plinth in Trafalgar Square.