No nuke tests during queen visit, Major urged Chirac

British urged France not to conduct controversial nuclear weapons tests in the Pacific while Queen Elizabeth II was in New Zealand, newly released government files showed on Tuesday.

The then-prime minister, John Major, told president Jacques Chirac nuclear tests would put the monarch in an "invidious position", as nearby New Zealand's head of state, according to the declassified documents from the National Archives.

The underground tests were conducted on Moruroa atoll in French Polynesia in the southern Pacific Ocean, triggering outrage in many countries, including New Zealand.

France began a series of what turned out to be six tests on September 5, 1995, with subsequent tests on October 1 and October 27.

Queen Elizabeth was visiting New Zealand from October 30 to November 13, taking in the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting (CHOGM) in Auckland.

Britain, a fellow nuclear weapons state and United Nations Security Council member, supported the French tests.

A Foreign Office confidential note said: "We should make a strong pitch to the French, cashing in our support for their position on testing."