Ireland was concerned over how to decline an invitation to the then-Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s wedding, new documents have revealed.
The invitation was sent to Irish President Patrick Hillery and his wife for the wedding on July 29, 1981 in St Paul’s Cathedral, and requested a reply by June 26.
It was only a month after IRA prisoner and hunger striker Bobby Sands had died.
A briefing note on how to respond to the invite is among the State documents released by the Department of Foreign Affairs to the National Archives this year.
The note asked whether the reply should be issued after the Irish general election, or would it be “discourteous” to do so, while also noting that sending a reply too soon after the invite could also be “discourteous”.
It also pondered that since it is a “negative” reply, “it would seem desirable to offer a diplomatic excuse”, as no decent reason being given could be “misinterpreted both domestically and internationally”.
The noted added: “The press will certainly ask the reason for the non-attendance.”
The document also weighed up the pros and cons of attending the wedding, noting that an invite from a “friendly” country to an occasion “such as this” should be accepted, but adding that the Irish President would attract “unfavourable” comment if he did attend.
The wedding invitations were issued a month after IRA prisoner Bobby Sands died following a 66-day-long hunger strike, as part of a campaign to be treated as a political prisoner.
“The present state of Anglo-Irish relations, and specifically the very general feeling of dissatisfaction in both the north and the south with the British Government’s policy on prison conditions in Northern Ireland would ensure that there would be much unfavourable comment if the President were to attend the royal wedding,” the document said.
It added that with the “appropriate diplomatic excuse”, a refusal of the Irish President’s attendance would not “impair the political dialogue with London”.
On June 26, 1981, the final date by which the RSVP was to be given, Ireland’s Ambassador to the UK conveyed the Irish President’s thanks for the wedding invite but expressed “their regret that, because of prior commitments, they will be unable to attend”.
The note added: “They have instructed that the ambassador should represent them on this occasion.”
