SPANISH MONARCHY MAY BE RESTORED IS SUGGESTION

Grey River Argus, 30 August 1948, Page 5

SPANISH MONARCHY MAY BE RESTORED IS SUGGESTION

(Rec. 6.50). LONDON, August 29. It is reported that on Wednesday General Franco had a three-hour talk with Don Juan, the Pretender to the Spanish Throne, on General Francos yacht. A Spanish Foreign Office spokesman explained that conversations between General Franco and Don Juan concerned the Pretender s desire to begin the education of the Crown Prince Juan Carlos in Spam this autumn. ' It is said Government, diplomatic, and Monarchist circles attach the greatest importance to the meeting, which was their first. Among various press reports is one from a Reuter correspondent at Madrid who says: Reliable Spanisa sources stated General Franco in ms talk with Don Juan told him that he would recognise Don Juan s eldest child, Juan Carlos, as the Fnnce of the Asturias, or the heir to the Spanish Throne, if . Don Juan ie nounced his own claim. . The correspondent also says. Ihese sources stated that Don Juan did not commit himself, but that he said that hp would consult his counsellors and would ™ e the matter lull cons.deratloßelerrlng to ®e reported meeUug between General Franco and Don Tuan the diplomatic writer of the London Daily Tel ®g ra P^j?aid: Jifenre three main reasons why it is hkc ly that a meeting between Gemeral Franco and Don Juan took p ace at the nresent juncture. One is tnai I»S from abroad could prevent a financial «A n eil P aTcharge d’Afiaires at the e SpXhMoSchy by ?n agreement with General FrancoSecondly, there is pressure from the Church n Spain, which sees a danger to itself through a 7 Prolonged »!th Genera Fian hen regime. Church reais a Gene ral the regime ends wti Franco’s death it win there of popular ne^oti’a tions has been a breakdown 01 n^ Socialist3 between Monarchists ana ha£e increasingly Spanish Socialists of a Comcome under the d thu t . the Sance of a mutual understanding imP °£“L/ report- said that polity sources conside ce tQ In( j a iecio means the coup. g gpanish Socialist Prieto, , trying to bring leader, - hs b e Monarchists, RepubUcansiandSocialists against General Franco.