Scramble to Shield Margaret
RAF bombers flew halfway around the world to see off a threat by Guatemala’s unstable leader to menace Princess Margaret with fighter planes during a royal visit to central America, it has been revealed.
Newly released Foreign Office documents show the Guatemalan military junta wanted to send Mustang planes into British Honduras, now known as Belize, during Margaret’s arrival in May 1958.
The Foreign Office was alerted to President Miguel Ydigoras Fuentes’s plan by an MI6 officer in the British Honduran capital Belize City on April 24 that year.
Army colonel Ydigoras Fuentes, described by the CIA as “almost schizophrenic”, claimed British Honduras belonged to Guatemala and MI6 feared the Second World War Mustangs would be used to harass Margaret’s plane approaching Belize City – or even attempt an invasion.
A secret RAF mission, codenamed Operation Quick Flight, saw three Canberra bombers fly 4,000 miles from Wyton, Cambridgeshire.
On April 30, the Foreign Office told the British consul general in Guatemala City to inform the junta that
“as an act of courtesy we wish them to know that three Canberra bombers will be present in British Honduras”.
The telegram added: “For your own information, one reason for the despatch of the Canberra aircraft is the hope that the news will deter the Guatemalan Government from carrying out their plan, and will detract from its success if they do.”
The RAF escorted Margaret’s plane into Belize City and remained during her visit. Buy 60 for