Thread by @RoryCormac

Haven't done a #FakeFriday for a couple of weeks, so here's a fun one about propaganda and the royals:

1977: The Palace didn't want Idi Amin to come to UK for commonwealth heads of government meeting during the jubilee year.

Shaking hands with the queen would be embarrassing

as an aside, the Queen had dismissed similar fears a few years earlier, quipping it would not have been the first time she had met murderers.

anyway, back to 1977.

🚨Parliament tried to prevent Amin from coming.
🚨The gov even developed a dramatic plan to use special forces to bundle him back into an airplane.
🚨The FCO passed a confidential warning to Amin via Saudi Arabia: do not come

nothing worked: The UK couldn't veto and Ugandan radio published the confidential warning, publicly accusing Britain of inappropriately neo-colonial heavy handedness.

Enter MI6/IRD🕵️🕵️‍♂️🕵️‍♀️

The operation involved spreading disinformation inside Uganda warning of an impending coup if Amin dared to leave the country.

They also spread rumours about an assassination threat if Amin came to London.

Sure enough, local newspapers suddenly reported turmoil and assassination plots

Did it work?

It got weirder....

Amin didn't show up to the conference but launched an influence campaign of his own

He spread rumours and put decoys onto various aeroplanes.

And the Queen?

The queen was relieved. She told Mountbatten "how awful it would be if Amin were to gatecrash the party".

She joked she would hit him hard with her ceremonial sword if he turned up!

END