Turning down an invitation to the wedding of Prince Charles to Diana caused a diplomatic headache for officials in Ireland, newly released documents reveal.
Irish President Patrick Hillery decided he and his wife could not attend the ceremony at St Paul’s Cathedral on July 29, 1981, amid Anglo-Irish tensions.
But Dublin officials were left agonising over the response as the RSVP deadline of June 26 loomed.
In a briefing note they are seen weighing up the pros and cons of attending, arguing that an invitation from a “friendly” country to such a state occasion should be accepted.
But they warn of criticism if the President were to accept the invitation, which had been sent a month after IRA prisoner Bobby Sands died following a 66-day hunger strike at the Maze prison in Northern Ireland as part of a campaign to be treated as a political prisoner.
The briefing note says: “The present state of Anglo-Irish relations…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 note asks whether the response should be issued after the June 11 Irish general election, or whether waiting until then would be “discourteous”.
But it then asks if sending a negative reply too soon could also be seen as discourteous.
It suggests that “it would seem desirable to offer a diplomatic excuse” for not going, as giving no decent reason could be “misinterpreted both domestically and internationally”.
It adds: “The press will certainly ask the reason for the non-attendance.”
If a reasonable excuse is given, a refusal would not “impair the political dialogue with London”, it says.
Finally on June 26 – the day of the RSVP deadline – Ireland’s Ambassador to the UK conveyed the Irish President’s thanks but expressed “their regret that, because of prior commitments, they will be unable to attend” and he was to go in their place.
The briefing note has now been released by Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs to the country’s National Archives.
