2 January 2005 releases

Deals with the seizure, under the Obscene Publications Act, of copies of the lesbian novels Sleeveless Errand by Norah C James and The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall.

The file contains a copy of the letter to Lady Churchill at 10 Downing Street, threatening to "shoot her dead" if Britain does not end atrocities in Kenya.

Captain Peter Baker, Conservative MP for South Norfolk, was convicted of 6 fraud charges and sentenced to seven years in 1957. The file mentions Baker's 'chronic alcoholism' as a cause of his financial misdeeds. Includes a letter to the Speaker of the House of Commons W S Morrison expressing profound regret for the embarrassment caused to the House and discussion on the question of whether Baker's seat is automatically vacated.

Discusses the question of the residence of King Michael of Romania. His fate had been of concern to the Prime Minister Winston Churchill who asked his Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden to ensure that the king 'be accorded diplomatic privileges to the utmost possible extent.' The file details the Foreign Office's deliberations surrounding what diplomatic privileges could and could not be accorded to the exiled monarch. It also records Eden's belief that the king should be encouraged to take a job as an airline pilot.

Contains an inward telegram to Commonwealth Relations Office which is interesting from the point of view of preserving British military authority and reputation amongst the Greek-Cypriot population following the arrest of three RAF servicemen who were accused of 'not only gun running on a large scale but...[being] deeply implicated in Turkish underground activities'.

Deals with the setting up of the Compton Inquiry and the publication of its report.

A series of thefts by a museum attendant called Nevin (who sentenced to three years) led to this report. The thefts numbered 2544 but a future stock-take was thought to show that around 5000 objects were missing, although not all were attributable to Nevin. Amongst the discussions were the stopping of the issuing of passes to staff to take objects out of the V&A, and the introduction of random checks on staff to ensure that no objects were being taken out. No stocktaking had taken place for 16 years since the stock-take of 1937.

Concerns credit and the use of blocked film sterling remittances, which were blocked under the Anglo-US Film Agreement. Niarchos planned to order oil tankers from Vickers-Armstrong, as part of his transport plans. The papers also mention that there was criticism of Paramount who did not spend money on or acquire British films.

Concerns the disappearance of diamonds sent from South Africa to the UK and ending up in USA through smuggling. This affected 'cheap sterling' and a cost to the Exchequer as well as avoidance of US customs dues. South Africa imposed export restrictions, unless it could be proved that the diamonds were for "local use", i.e. within the UK.

The Treasury was not over-happy with the suggestion of investment in Brazil, as it could stretch the company from profitable areas.

This is effectively a war-planning file, concerning what would happen if the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank needed to be evacuated. Suggestions were made that that reserve currency notes could be towed away by a hulk and sunk (worth about over $250m) in event of an evacuation. It was pointed out that in similar cases the notes floated back to shore. The Bank of England said that no test has yet been carried out on what would happen if notes were blown up and that there were concerns about the effectiveness of destruction by fire.

This is the fourth and final part of a story that left no one in a good light. (The first three parts – T 273/14 to T 273/16 – have already been released and will also be available to view at the press event.) Originally a set of Degas sculptures were to be brought in Paris, but the minutes were imprecise and some bits of information were not fully explained to the trustees (which included Graham Sutherland). The sculptures were said to cost 8 million French francs, but this became 16 million French francs. The export licence value was less than that paid (£14,220 against £18,480).

Bad staff relationships between Sir John Rothenstein and Le Roux (a South African) did not help. Attempts to smooth the relationship failed and at one time it was suggested that both should be sacked. The Treasury at the time was responsible for some museums and galleries. This file contains a 23-page from Sutherland setting out his view, following his resignation as trustee.

One episode in the saga involved actress Zsa Zsa Gabor who was photographed lying across part of one of the sculptures for the film "The Fake", for which Rothenstein accepted responsibility in allowing filming to take place without proper arrangements.

Concerns the retirement of Sir Hilary Jenkinson as Deputy Keeper at the Public Record Office (PRO), who was thought to be aged 70 in 1952. The view was that Jenkinson "was quite hopeless and should retire", that his leadership "was thoroughly bad" and that the PRO was not grappling with the modern world. Jenkinson's career as Deputy Keeper ended in 1954 and he died in 1961.