Diana, Princess of Wales, showed “obvious ignorance of or disregard for” the constitutional position of Northern Ireland, apparently believing it to be part of the Republic of Ireland, according to a note written by the Irish ambassador to Britain in 1993. The late princess, at the time still married to Prince Charles, had referred to Northern Ireland as part of Ireland in a conversation with the ambassador, Joseph Small, he wrote in a briefing note to Ireland’s then-president, Mary Robinson. Robinson was preparing for a historic visit to London, the first by a serving Irish president, in which she would meet Queen Elizabeth II. A folder with briefing material for Robinson, newly released by Ireland’s national archives, includes Small’s note. In it he writes: “Whenever we meet Prince Charles, he invariably says that he would love to visit Ireland. He is, of course a regular visit [sic] to Northern Ireland. Diana has also been there. “Early last year she said to me, with obvious ignorance of or disregard for constitutional niceties: ‘I was in your country yesterday!’” Robinson’s trip to England, to collect an honorary degree at the University of Oxford, came at a time when the Troubles were continuing in Northern Ireland, but relations between Ireland and the UK were deepening.
The briefing note also detailed the political situation in the UK and included notes on the Irish diaspora in the UK and the royal family, before what would become a significant visit. On the second day of her trip, Robinson had been invited to pay a “courtesy call” to the Queen at Buckingham Palace. Among the topics noted for possible discussion between the two were Northern Ireland, recent bombing atrocities there and in mainland Britain, cross-border issues and general relations between Ireland and the UK. One observer had written to the Irish president’s office before the visit, the file records, and noted parallels with “the last meeting between an Irish woman leader and a British monarch” – namely the visit by Grace O’Malley or Gráinne Ní Mháille, known as the Pirate Queen of Connacht, to Queen Elizabeth I at Greenwich palace in 1593. “Grace, like yourself, was also a Mayo woman!” Dr Donald Martin from Killybegs in Co Donegal wrote, noting that the language spoken at the time was Latin. More than a decade before Robinson’s visit, the newly released records reveal, her predecessor as president was presented with a diplomatic dilemma when invited to attend Diana’s wedding to Charles in July 1981. A document details the concerns of government officials over how best to convey president Patrick Hillery’s decision not to attend. The invitations had been sent a month after the death in prison of the IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands. “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 26 June 1981, the final date by which the RSVP was to be given, Ireland’s ambassador to the UK conveyed the Irish president’s “regret that, because of prior commitments, they will be unable to attend”.