Even the threat of assassination didn’t stop her. . .

THE Queen had the unlikeliest of fans in the Cuban Communist dictator Fidel Castro.

According to a story told by Sir Sonny Ramphal, former Commonwealth Secretary-General, one Left-wing Caribbean leader was so keen to get into Castro’s good graces that he confided in him that he was thinking of turning his country into a republic.

‘He thought it would go down well with Fidel. But Fidel said: “Why? Does the Queen interfere?” ‘Prime Minister: “No.” ‘Castro: “Then why would you do that? You want to be a big tourist island and she’s good for showing off your stability. Why are you doing that?” ’

Despite this acknowledgement of the monarch’s usefulness, reports emerged of a plot by Castro to assassinate the Queen at the 1979 Commonwealth summit in Zambia, then a one-party state under President Kenneth Kaunda.

The crunch debate at the summit was to be over white minority rule in neighbouring Rhodesia, an issue causing much division among Commonwealth leaders.

The Queen’s would-be assassins, it was alleged, hoped to pin the blame on Rhodesia’s white leaders and generate enough international outrage to bring down their regime.

The ‘plot’ would later turn out to be nonsense. But, alerted to this and other threats, Downing Street expressed serious reservations about despatching the Queen to a maelstrom of African violence.

There was, however, one compelling argument in favour of this ostensibly suicidal royal tour: the Queen was very much looking forward to it. As Head of the Commonwealth, she was determined to join the rest of the ‘club’ in Lusaka, with the Duke of Edinburgh at her side, and 19-year-old Prince Andrew, too.

They were already doing their packing and the British High Commission was bombarded with questions, including what Prince Andrew would need for his safari.

Back came the reply: ‘Normal bush wear and stout shoes. Mosquito nets will be provided.’

There were weeks of tension between the Palace and senior Government officials until finally, on July 17, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher told the Commons that her mind was made up: she was not going to tell the Queen not to go to Zambia.

It was just as well, because two days later the monarch was on her way, arriving in time to deal with an explosive speech prepared by Kaunda. Some of its more incendiary passages were likely to cause terrible divisions within the Commonwealth.

The Queen intervened personally with Kaunda and the controversial text miraculously disappeared. This set the scene for a harmonious summit at which history was made with Mrs Thatcher’s announcement that she would be working with all the parties involved to deliver ‘genuine black majority rule’ in Rhodesia as quickly as possible.

We are often told ‘the Queen does not do politics’— and indeed she does not.

But over seven decades on the throne, there have been moments when she has strayed close to the line. On this occasion, she was willing to cross it.