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3 Feb, 2019 10:03

God save the Queen... from Brexit? Cold War plan revived to rescue royals from riots – media

God save the Queen... from Brexit? Cold War plan revived to rescue royals from riots – media

A secret Cold War-era plan to evacuate the British royal family has reportedly been dusted off and repurposed in preparation for Brexit chaos that could see angry riots endanger the Queen’s life.

According to the Sunday Times and the Mail on Sunday, plans are in motion to evacuate the Queen and her family from mobs of angry Britons should Brexit really hit the fan.

The Cold War plan has been “repurposed in the event of civil disorder following a no-deal Brexit,” an unnamed source from the Cabinet Office told the Sunday Times.

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The plan would see the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh ferried out of London to a top secret location elsewhere in the country.

The Cold War-era plan ‘Operation Candid’ would have seen the royals dispersed to country homes around the UK in an extreme national emergency. The Queen, though, was to set off on the royal yacht Britannia if there was a nuclear attack on the UK. The evacuation plans are reportedly now being updated to be ready to go should Brexit turn violent.

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“If there were problems in London, clearly you would remove the royal family away from those key sites,” Dai Davies, an ex-police officer formerly in charge of royal protection, told the Times. Davies added that while this is unlikely, “the powers-that-be need to have contingency plans for any eventuality.”

Whitehall sources reportedly worry that the Queen is becoming “dangerously politicized” as a figure and could become a target for an angry public, though Tory Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg dismissed the royal rescue plan as mere “wartime fantasy.”

“The Monarch’s place is always in the capital,” he said, “as the late Queen Mother, wife of George VI, made very clear during the Blitz.”

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The UK is still trying to reach a Brexit transition agreement with the EU before the impending departure date of March 29. A no-deal Brexit could spark chaos with imports and customs checks, and in a worst case scenario, could potentially lead to food shortages and riots.

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