The Duke of Edinburgh raised the issue of German naval war trophy losses in 1965, according to Ministry of Defence papers. The Dr Barnartz Historical Marine Institute in Cologne had contacted Prince Philip, then a National Maritime Museum Trustee, to help secure the return of ship models from Germany which had ended up at the NMM after the war. Admiral Karl-Adolf Zenker (Inspector of the German Navy) had visited London in 1965, and had also asked for the return of naval models from Mürwik Naval Academy. Nine trophy models were subsequently identified by the NMM, including those of the Kaiser Friedrich II, the Admiral Scheer and Hitler's yacht the Grille; these appeared to have come from Mürwik. The 1965-6 Ministry of Defence file shows that the issue of German naval models was discussed by the UK authorities and the NMM. The legal and ethical issues which applied to models would presumably also have been applicable to paintings, although the trophy pictures were not considered. Since then, however, attitudes towards 1933-45 spoliation have toughened, particularly with the 1999 national museums' Statement of Principles and the establishment of the official Spoliation Advisory Panel in 2000. Following the two 1965 requests for the return of ship models, the NMM sought the view of the Treasury Solicitor, the government's legal advisor. On 16 July 1965, Sir Harvey Druitt warned the museum that it was on weak ground: "The truth is that you do not know precisely where the models came from, nor how they came into the possession of the Navy Department, you do not even seem to know whether the models 'belong' to your museum or are only on loan from the Ministry of Defence." Sir Harvey went on to deal with suggestions that the acquisition might have contravened the 1907 Hague Convention on the conduct of warfare. He wrote: "Whether we committed a war crime in taking these models is not clear to me, but I confess that I am not very impressed by the explanationthat the material from the German Naval Museum should be dispersed in order to prevent its use in restoring tradition in German sea services; it would certainly seem impossible to argue that the models were even indirectly useful for naval operations." The Treasury solicitor concluded: "I am afraid that I find it impossible to say whether you, or the Ministry of Defence, have a good title to these models. But what is clear to me is that the Ministry of Defence could not pass on to you better title than they themselves had. If you have incorporated some stolen property in your collections you cannot refuse to disgorge it on the ground that you have no power to dispose of anything comprised in your collections except in accordance with the terms of the 1934 Act [which covers deaccessioning]." Ultimately, however, the Foreign Office advised against restitution on 12 May 1966: "This question appears to turn on whether the National Maritime Museum has legal title to the models. This of course cannot be established without knowing the precise circumstances of removal from Germany. Since... we do not have this information, the point must remain open and German claims unsubstantiated." On 30 June 1966 the First Sea Lord responded to Admiral Zenker, pointing out that it was not possible to prove which models had come from Mürwikand there was therefore little to be gained "by going further into the matter".