Queen’s ‘obsession’ with Irish peace process revealed in book

PRINCE Charles and the Queen are “consumed by the Irish political situation”, according to a new royal biography.

Royal correspondent Robert Jobson makes the claim in his book The Real Charles ahead of the prince’s 70th birthday.

The book also claims the future king talks to the dead to keep their spirits alive, including his great-uncle Louis Mountbatten, who was killed in an IRA bomb attack in Co Sligo in 1979.

MrJobsonhaswrittenthatthe Queen has an almost obsessive interest in Irish history and the peace process.

A former member of the royal household is quoted as saying the Queen is “a bit of an anorak about Ireland”, often spending hours discussing the subject with her son and heir in private.

The source added that the monarch “has found many Government ministers wanting when she has challenged them on a particular aspect of the peace process or Irish history”.

Prince Charles, too, is said to be an avid reader on the subject.

The Queen and Prince Charles are deeply interested in Ireland

Mr Jobson said the prince had never believed the rate of progress in the peace process would have allowed him to cross

the border — he has visited the Republic several times since his first trip in 1995.

He is also said to consider his mother’s State visit to the Republic in 2011 as the crowning achievement of her reign, something he believed cemented the normalisation of Anglo-Irish relations.

The landmark visit saw a warm reception for a speech in Dublin Castle, during which the Queen opened her remarks with a phrase in Irish.

Another key moment saw the Queen lay a wreath in the Garden of Remembrance for those who died in the fight for Irish independence.

Mr Jobson said this was also a deeply personal moment for the royal family, coming decades after Lord Mountbatten’s murder.

The writer says that in his qui- eter moments, the prince “talks to his departed loved ones, and in that way keeps Mountbatten and many other dearly departed spirits alive in his heart”.

Prince Charles made a pilgrimage in 2015 to the coast in Mullaghmore which overlooks the spot where his great-uncle was killed on his boat, along with one of his twin grandsons Nicholas (14), along with 15-year-old Paul Maxwell.

The Dowager Lady Brabourne (83) also died from her injuries the following day.

In a speech at the time, Charles told local residents how the tragedy had shaped his own viewofIrelandandtheTroubles.

“Through this dreadful ex- perience, though, I now understand in a profound way the agonies borne by so many others in these islands, of whatever faith, denomination or political tradition,” he said.

“Despite the tragedy of August 1979, the memories that Lord Mountbatten’s family have of Classiebawn Castle and Mullaghmore, going right back to 1946, are of great happiness.”

He added: “Many of (the villagers) showed the most extraordinary outpouring of compassion and support to both Lord Mountbatten’s and Paul Maxwell’s families in the aftermath of the bombing. Their loving kindness has done much to aid the healing process.”