Royals’ first official overseas trip as married couple comes at request of British government

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are to introduce themselves to the neighbours, visiting the Irish Republic to pour on diplomatic balm against the backdrop of Brexit.

Prince Harry and Meghan will receive a red-carpet welcome when they fly into Dublin on Tuesday afternoon on their first official overseas trip as a married couple. The visit follows that of the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, who toured Kerry and Cork last month.

The whistle-stop visit to Dublin, at the request of the British government, is not the first for Meghan, although she faces a contrasting itinerary to that she enjoyed in the city five years ago in her pre-royal days.

Crown jewel: the soft power of William and Kate’s Nordic visit Read more

In 2013, as an actor picking up an award for her role in the US legal drama Suits, she sampled the city’s nightlife, participated in a Guinness pint-pulling competition and reportedly hung out with Ali Hewson, the wife of the U2 singer Bono.

As with many US celebrities, she also managed to trace distant Irish roots. “My dad’s side of the family is Irish,” she told reporters at the time.

This time she is meeting the Irish president, Michael Higgins, and the taoiseach, Leo Varadkar. She will also attend a traditional summer garden party hosted by the British ambassador rather than the nightclubs Dicey’s Garden and Krystle.

The couple’s day-and-a-half visit includes attending Croke Park for a Gaelic sports festival, and seeing the famous Books of Kells and the Irish famine memorial.

The diplomatic resonance of their visit should not be underestimated and Irish leaders have been swift to highlight its importance within the context of Brexit.

Varadkar told the Irish Independent last week: “I think with the United Kingdom leaving Europe, we are really going to need to focus a lot more on bilateral relationships, and visits of the president to the UK or members of the royal family to Ireland to help cement that very close relationship between Britain and Ireland.

“So we will be rolling out the red carpet and I think they will be extremely welcome.”

Niall Gibbons, the chief executive of Tourism Ireland, said the visit was a “wonderful opportunity” to showcase Dublin and Ireland to a huge audience and deliver a boost to tourism.

Kensington Palace said the couple were “looking forward to learning more about Ireland’s history and experiencing its rich culture, as well as meeting the people who are shaping the country’s future”.

In 2011, the Queen became the first British monarch to visit Ireland since the visit by her grandfather, George V, in 1911.