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Royal Family

Volume 301: debated on Friday 28 November 1997

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To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will release for public scrutiny File F0372/7708 relating to the Duke of Edinburgh's visit to Argentina in 1962. [16991]

One extract from this item was previously unavailable because it was closed for 100 years. It has now been opened, and is available in the Public Record Office.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will review those documents relating to the Royal Family which came up for review before the publication of the White Paper on Open Government of 1993 (Cm 2290) with a view to their release under the current criteria relating to such documents. [17000]

The 1993 White Paper, "Open Government", (Cm 2290) stated that records relating to the Royal Family would be treated in the same way as all other records and only closed for longer than 30 years if they fell into one or more of the three criteria governing closure (para. 9.22). It also stated (para. 9.28) that all departments would, as resources could be made available, review all material currently withheld for longer than 30 years to see whether its sensitivity had passed and to release it, if possible. One such release, relating to the Royal Family, is referred to in a later Answer. Questions of access to closed records are a matter for the Ministers of the Departments concerned.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will review the papers held, relating to the abdication of Edward VIII, with a view to releasing them for public scrutiny. [16998]

Papers on the Abdication of King Edward VIII are at present closed until the year 2037. They may, however, be reviewed under the provisions of the 1993 White Paper, "Open Government", (Cm 2290), before that time. Many will continue to be personally sensitive for some time to come, but it is not ruled out that it may be possible to release them before 2037.