MOUNTBATTEN, HIS BUTLER & THE COUP

Recent headlines in the British press have linked Lord Mountbatten of Burma with a plot for an armed coup to overthrow the British Government but his reclusive former butler claims otherwise.

Mounlbatten,a familiar figure in Gibraltar from childhood to old age, was assassinated by the IRA in 1979 when they blew up his boat Shadow V while he cruised on Donegal Bav. Also killed were Mountbatten's 14-year-old grand son, a 15-year-old boy working in his school holidays,an 80-year-old woman and her pet dachshund. The butler, William Evans, had been on the boat with Mountbatten many times but had left his em ploy ten years earlier.

A new book, the Wtrr of the Windsors, alleges that Mountbatten, former Viceroy of India and the Queen's cousin,plot ted a coup d'etat to oust Prime Minister Harold Wilson and re place him with a unified govern ment headed by Mountbatten him self.

Since his death Mountbatten has been criticized in numerous books and articles concerning his erratic career and faithless marriage.This latest charge, however, was too much for Evans, whose mother was born in Gibraltar, and he has come out of seclusion to defend the man he served faithfully for ten years.

Today Evans, 70, manages on a state pension and his lifestyle is far from the days of luxury when he worked for Mountbatten but he re mains faithful to his former boss. He was a Naval petty officer when he caught the eye of the then Chief Sea Lord, who poached him as his right-hand man.

"He was a wonderful person," says Evans of Mountbatten. "I would have died for him. He was unique."

Evans agrees that Mountbatten did meet with conspirators plan ning a coup but that the Lord con sidered the men to be 'mad' and only humoured them with abso lutely no intention of getting in volved their outrageous scheme. One of the conspirators was news paper proprietor Cecil King who, after requesting a meeting, met with Mountbatten at his flat.

Says Evans: "1 was in the bed room unpacking when Lord Louis walked in, after three or four min- utes, and shut the door. He said, 'We've got a complete nutter in there. He wants me to throw the Government over and put troops in the streets. Can you imagine it? He's bloody insane. Give me two minutes and come and get me out'."

Evans waited for a few minutes before going in with a note and so giving Mountbatten an excuse to leave. The next day, however, Mountbatten met again with King and his henchman Hugh Cudlipp, but in the presence of Chief Scien tific Officer Sollv Zuckerman.The meeting lasted a little more than ten minutes.

Afterwards Zuckorman ad vised, "Dickie, get rid of the man. Have nothing to do with him."

Evans told one British paper that the onlv reason Mountbatten wasted his time with the so-called 'nutter' was because it 'flattered his ego'.

The butler's credibility is bol stered bv the fact that Mountbatten did not pay him well, did not pro vide him with a pension and left him nothing in his will.

When Evans announced that he was leaving Mountbatten'ssimplv responded,"Well,cheerio,old son. Look after yourself," and bolted down the stairs.

Today Evans lives quietlv in a small bungalow and his only momento of his days with Mountbatten is a pair of silver cufflinks.

"I wouldn't sell them for £500,000," he says with surprising loyalty.

Author's Note: The story 'Mountbattcn's Man ofCibrallar'can be jbund in my book Gibraltar Con nections available at Gibraltar book shops.