Can you imagine the french in the commonwealth?

This is a few days old but for those that missed it this story appeared in the sun last week. Im sure i know a few people that would be interested.

France wanted to join UK
By JAMES CLENCH and TIM SPANTON
January 16, 2007

IT’S the news that will have the French spluttering into their breakfast coffee.

Newly-discovered documents reveal our haughty cross-Channel neighbours were desperate to MERGE with Britain in the aftermath of the Second World War.In a devastating blow to Gallic pride, the papers show that in 1956 French PM Guy Mollet humbly asked British leader Sir Anthony Eden if the two countries could join together. When Sir Anthony said “Non”, Mollet begged for France to be allowed into the Commonwealth — with the QUEEN as its head of state.
Thankfully Sir Anthony again declined — but a year later the sulking French joined forces with Germany instead and soon after the Common Market was born.

The astonishing revelations were uncovered in once-secret papers held in the National Archives. At the time of the proposal, France was in economic meltdown and faced the escalating Suez crisis.

The documents show that on September 10, 1956, Mollet travelled to London to discuss the unlikely merger between the two nations.

A British Cabinet paper from the period reads: “When the French PM, Monsieur Mollet, was recently in London he raised with the Prime Minister the possibility of a union between the United Kingdom and France.” It adds that when his request for a union failed, the French premier pleaded for his country to be let into the British Commonwealth.

Another document dated September 28 notes: “Mollet had not thought there need be difficulty over France accepting the headship of Her Majesty.” The document shows the proposal was given serious consideration by the Government before it was rejected. Perhaps less surprisingly, no record of it exists in French archives.

The discovery was made by a BBC team making a documentary for Radio 4.