Churchill’s bid to block files on Nazi plan to make Duke of Windsor king

Winston Churchill sought to block the release of secret Second World War documents revealing Nazi plans to install the Duke of Windsor as king in the event of a successful German invasion, newly-released government files reveal.

Captured German telegrams showed foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop hoped to lure the Duke to Spain where he would be offered the throne as part of a plan to persuade Britain to make peace.

After the war, historians sought to publish the exchanges as part of an official academic programme by the victorious Allies to release key Nazi documents.

However, files released by the National Archives show how Churchill tried to delay their release for up to 20 years amid concerns they would cast doubt on the true loyalties of the former king.

The telegrams revealed a convoluted plot to entrap the Duke – who had visited Hitler following his abdication in 1936 so as to marry the American divorcee Wallis Simpson and who Ribbentrop believed favoured peace with Germany.