Duke and Duchess of Windsor files
Dear National Archives,
I am researching the Duke and Duchess of Windsor's time in Spain in June 1940 and noticed that PRO FO 800/323 states on page 130 that 40 Folios have been extracted until 2016. I am writing to ask you to make these files available immediately.
Could you also tell me whether there are plans to make any other unreleased files that you hold relating to the Duke and Duchess of Windsor available before 2016.
Yours faithfully,
Madoc Roberts
Dear Mr Roberts,
Thank you for your enquiry of 9 April 2013 regarding the following file:
FO 800/323 - Spain; Central Europe; European situation; France; Germany; Hoare, Samuel. Volume 15 Part XXXIV Switzerland. Volume 15 Part XXXV Turkey; Central Europe; War: general. Volume 15 Part XXXVIIncludes some information on the Duke of Windsor during the Second World War.
In your enquiry you request that the 40 Folios that have been extracted from FO 800/323 until 2016 as stated on page 130 of the document are made available immediately. These folios have been retained by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office under section 3 (4) of the Public Records Act 1958 and are therefore not held by The National Archives.
Please contact the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to request a review of these folios. We will not be forwarding your request so you will need to contact them directly. Contact details for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have been provided on the attached spreadsheet, which also gives further information relating to the remainder of your request, detailed below.
You also enquired whether are plans to make any other unreleased files that we hold relating to the Duke and Duchess of Windsor available before 2016. Under Section 16(1) of the Act, you are entitled to the provision of advice and assistance from us, as far as is reasonable, in making your Freedom of Information request. We have undertaken a search of Discovery, our online document cataloguing system and have ascertained that we hold information about the following closed or retained records, relating to the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, at The National Archives.
Please find attached to this email a list of the records in question and information relating to their closure status. If you wish to request access to any of these records which do not show within the list as being retained at department you will need to make separate FOI requests to The National Archives for this information. Access requests for records showing as retained at department will need to be made to the department in question I have included up-to-date contact information for these departments on the attached spreadsheet .
If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request or the decision which has been reached, you have the right to ask for an internal review. Internal review requests must be submitted within two months of the date of this response and should be addressed to:
Quality Manager
Public Services Development Unit
The National Archives
Kew
Richmond
Surrey
TW9 4DU
[email address]
You have the right to ask the Information Commissioner (ICO) to investigate any aspect of your complaint. However, please note that the ICO is likely to expect internal complaints procedures to have been exhausted before beginning his investigation.
Yours sincerely,
Poppy Groves
Freedom of Information Assessor
Freedom of Information Centre
Information Management and Practice Department
The National Archives
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