The aftermath of the siege was long, wrought with controversy and still reverberates to this day.
Walker had shot dead by an SAS soldier who had tried to kill him.
Mountbatten was shot in the head by a Special Branch officer. Officially his injuries were so severe that he was rendered comatose. He was taken away and never heard of again. Rumours persist that he was either locked away in a secure facility on the orders of Prince Philip whilst other say he recovered and was exiled from the UK.
The soldiers who took part in the coup were told by Walker and Mountbatten that there was a plot by communist sympathisers in the Civil Service and Government to take over the country. They were jailed and cashiered.
Fred Parkin was awarded a posthumous George Cross for bravery after fellow hostages revealed he had tried to persuade some of the soldiers to turn on the coup leaders. His funeral service took place at Westminster Abbey and was attended by 100,000 people.
Downing Street itself was badly damaged by the siege. It was un-inhabitable for months. Wilson lived at Great North Street while Healey and Ted Short rented out.
The effects of the coup still resonate to this day. Centrism and moderatism in British politics took firm as extremism on both left and right suffered.
Wilson was so affected that he retired in 1975. His official reason was that he was fatigued by the coup and its after effects whereas in reality he knew he had dementia
The coup proved one thing. That despite the chaos that affected the UK in the 1970s the power of democracy was still highly regarded and wouldn't be ignored.
Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority: still more when you superadd the tendency or the certainty of corruption by authority.
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