{"id":255868,"date":"2025-12-29T09:56:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T09:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/255868\/"},"modified":"2025-12-29T09:56:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T09:56:08","slug":"charles-plan-for-opulent-yacht-visit-to-galway-bay-and-cork-in-1996-annoyed-irish-side-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/255868\/","title":{"rendered":"Charles plan for \u2018opulent\u2019 yacht visit to Galway Bay and Cork in 1996 annoyed Irish side \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Plans by then-Prince Charles<\/a> to visit Ireland in 1996 a year after his first official visit to Ireland provoked mounting exasperation within Irish government circles as the \u201copulence\u201d of the trip grew.<\/p>\n

Five years ago, previously classified State Papers<\/a> released in London revealed that the visit planned for late June\/early July 1996 had been cancelled because of security fears about the prince\u2019s safety.<\/p>\n

However, newly released documents paint a different picture, with Dublin becoming increasingly concerned about an ever-expanding itinerary \u2013 including the prince\u2019s desire to bring the Royal Yacht into Galway<\/a> Bay and Cork<\/a> Harbour.<\/p>\n

In a hand-written note, then-taoiseach John Bruton<\/a> was clearly exasperated, saying that Ireland was \u201cthe last place\u201d Charles should bring the Royal Yacht, suggesting instead that the heir to the throne fly into one of the State\u2019s regional airports, helping to promote them.<\/p>\n

In a letter in March that year, the British ambassador to Ireland, Veronica Sutherland revealed the wish list of Prince Charles \u2013 now King Charles III \u2013 to the secretary to the government, Frank Murray.<\/p>\n

He would, she said, \u201clike to arrive in Her Majesty\u2019s Yacht Britannia\u201d and to put ashore in Galway Bay\u201d on Friday, June 28th, before looking at \u201cfarming, countryside and environmental matters\u201d locally.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the evening, he would like to offer hospitality on board Britannia, which would then sail late in the evening for a private weekend in Kerry and Cork, having disembarked the guests,\u201d she told Murray.<\/p>\n

There had been some contacts before the letter about Prince Charles coming to Cork onboard the Britannia, and the government had already offered to host a lunch in his honour given by the minister for defence, Sean Barrett.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018The logistics were nightmarish\u2019: first Irish visit by Prince Charles rememberedOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Saying that the prince was \u201cgrateful\u201d for the office, the ambassador said he also wanted to \u201cexplore other possibilities\u201d there, such as visits to urban regeneration districts, meeting with young people, hospice care, etc.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe would also like to offer hospitality that evening, either a reception alongside (the yacht at Cork from 17.45 to 19.15, or a dinner at anchor at Cobh, having sailed from Cork at 18.00).\u201d<\/p>\n

In her letter, then-ambassador Sutherland noted the growing ambitions of the trip: \u201cThese are rather more elaborate arrangements than you and I have so far discussed,\u201d she told the secretary to the government.<\/p>\n

The ambassador had rightly interpreted the private thoughts of Murray, who shortly afterwards told Bruton: \u201cThis visit is far more extensive than we were led to believe at first.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having checked with the Department of Foreign Affairs\u2019s chief of protocol, he said: \u201cIt would appear to both of us that we have to proceed with the programme as now envisaged unless there are security or political considerations which would dictate otherwise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clearly weary, the taoiseach wrote a hand-written reply to Murray, where he wondered if the arrival of the Royal Yacht in Galway would spark debate about the Treaty ports that were finally handed over to the Free State in 1938.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0King Charles has \u2018profound\u2019 personal connection with IrelandOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the symbolism of the Royal Yacht coming into Galway Bay is not good. Will it revive arguments about \u2018the ports\u2019 in the \u201830s? The yacht suggests opulence and superiority. It\u2019s not the image that should be conveyed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy can\u2019t the Prince just fly in by plane to one of the regional airports? That would give them a boost commercially,\u201d Bruton said to Murray, one of his closest and most influential civil servants.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe yacht is, I think, controversial in Britain of late because of its costs. Ireland is the last place he should be bringing it,\u201d said Bruton, who had warmly welcomed the prince to Ireland the year before.<\/p>\n

The trip was eventually cancelled after the Irish side had \u201chad expressed concern about the risks His Royal Highness would face\u201d if the visit went ahead without an IRA ceasefire in place, given the heightened tensions.<\/p>\n

However, the British side were conscious, too, about the use of Britannia, with classified papers released in London in 2020 showing that its arrival \u201cwould be unwelcome to parts of the population\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Plans by then-Prince Charles to visit Ireland in 1996 a year after his first official visit to Ireland…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":255869,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[9,10,1877,18,13,14,1878,6,19,17,132564,8417,11,12,15,16,5,131506,7,8,1294],"class_list":{"0":"post-255868","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breakingnews","10":"tag-cork","11":"tag-eire","12":"tag-featured-news","13":"tag-featurednews","14":"tag-galway","15":"tag-headlines","16":"tag-ie","17":"tag-ireland","18":"tag-john-bruton","19":"tag-king-charles","20":"tag-latest-news","21":"tag-latestnews","22":"tag-main-news","23":"tag-mainnews","24":"tag-news","25":"tag-state-papers","26":"tag-top-stories","27":"tag-topstories","28":"tag-uk"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115802261616666447","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=255868"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255868\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/255869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=255868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=255868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=255868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}