London, Feb. 26.
Gen. Franco will proclaim himself Regent of the Spanish Empire as soon as the civil war is ended and national unity is restored, British observers just returned from Burgos declared today.
They added that the proclamation of the Regency will possibly pave the way to a restoration of the monarchy in favour of Don Juan, youngest son of ex-King Alfonso.
The British Government have retrained from expressing any prefferences as to the form of the Spanish regime when peace is concluded, but it was well-known that the British Court desired a restoration of the monarchy in Spain, it was pointed out. The Duke of Alba, Nationalist representative here, probably expressed these sentiments to General Franco, observers added.
Within Nationalist Spain there is a division with the Carlists desiring a monarchy and Phalangists advocating a consolidation of the dictatorship, some British personalities asserted today.
Now probably decisive is the influence of the third political force in Franco Spain, the Catholic Clergy and the Jesuits chiefly. The Vatican Conclave, they said, will be of great portent for the political future of Spain.—Havas.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.