The World - News from Nov. 21, 1988

British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher would veto a trip to Moscow by Queen Elizabeth II if Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev invites the monarch during his visit to London next month, government sources said. A visit by the queen would be exploited as a propaganda coup by her hosts, since she would be bound by protocol not to speak out against Soviet human rights abuses as Thatcher has, the sources said. Thatcher is concerned that a royal visit would imply international approval of the current state of affairs in the Soviet Union, they said. Despite the queen’s interest in going, she would have to abide by Thatcher’s decision.