PRINCE Charles visited the Irish Embassy in London for the ‘Art of Negotiation’ exhibition commemorating the 100-year anniversary of the signing of the Anglo-Irish peace treaty.
Arriving at the embassy on Wednesday evening, the Prince of Wales was greeted by Ambassador Adrian O’Neill and his wife Aisling O’Neill.
He was given a tour around the exhibit, featuring important documents and portraits of the key players involved in brokering the treaty, by Dr Sinead McCoole and Dr Barbara Dawson.
The paintings are by renowned portrait-painter, Sir John Lavery, and deothose, like Arthur Griffith and Michael Collins, who helped to push the treaty over the line in October 1921.
Reanimated by the Lavery’s masterful use of colour, the exhibit documents one of the most important moments in the history of the British Isles.
Like the Good Friday Agreement some 76 years later, the Treaty showed that the pen –and indeed the art of negotiation – is often mightier than the sword.
Lavery’s portraits capture the likeness of 14 major Irish and British political figures who were involved in the talks, including Michael Collins, Arthur Griffith, David Lloyd George, and Winston Churchill.
The Prince had the chance to view the original British copy of the Treaty on special loan from the National Archives.
Aside from his political position, the prince has a profound personal connection with the issues surrounding Irish independence as his great uncle and beloved mentor, Louis Mountbatten, was killed by an IRA planted bomb in 27 August 1979.
