Minister to host another Royal visit

FRESH from hosting a garden party for Prince Charles and Camilla in Killarney last month, Southside Minister Josepha Madigan is now set to meet more British royals.

The newly-married Prince Harry and his wife Meghan will be in Dublin for a series of engagements this week and Minister Madigan will be there to welcome them.

The minister will meet the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at a private reception hosted by the British Ambassador for a select group of VIP guests at his residence in Glencairn House, in the minister’s own constituency.

The couple will also visit the Book of Kells where they will meet Minister Madigan again. 

Only last month Minister Madigan, the Fine Gael TD for Dublin Rathdown, welcomed Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall to Muckross House in Killarney where they were taken on a tour of the house and surrounding gardens.

Later that day the minister hosted a garden party for the royals in the beautiful grounds of Killarney House, a place visited by Queen Victoria in the 1860’s.

“I was very pleased to welcome Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall to Killarney House and Muckross House in Killarney National Park last month,” Minster Madigan said. “Charles and Camilla took a great interest in the area and I was happy to assure them both that they and indeed their wider family will always be welcome here in Ireland and indeed we look forward to welcoming them and others back very soon.”

Minister Madigan said that over 150 years ago Queen Victoria, her husband Prince Albert and her children arrived in Killarney by train.

On her first night, she stayed in Kenmare House, which once stood on the grounds of Killarney house. The Queen and her family would then go on to stay in Muckross House.

Minister Madigan added: “I am delighted that Their Royal Highnesses followed in Queen Victoria’s footsteps. Killarney is truly one of the most beautiful places in the world and, as Minister with responsibility for this National Park, I was especially proud to open the ‘Golden Gates’ to our masterpiece of nature for such illustrious visitors.”

During their high-profile visit, Prince Charles and Camilla included a visit to Cork as part of their tour.

The couple started out by following in the footsteps of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and travelling to the city’s famous English Market.

It followed a two-day visit to Northern Ireland, ending in Omagh, where they paid their respects at the scene of one of the biggest mass killings of the Troubles.

Meanwhile, this week’s visit to Ireland will be Harry and Meghan’s first foreign trip as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

Their first royal trip abroad together has an itinerary filled with events and culture.

According to a statement issued by Kensington Palace, Meghan and Harry will “visit organisations central to Irish life”.

That will include a Gaelic sports festival at the home of the Gaelic Athletic Association in Croke Park.

The Royals have been invited to a summer garden party at the headquarters of the British Ambassador, where they will meet people from Ireland’s arts, military, sports, and social enterprise departments.

Kensington Palace has said this visit will see Their Royal Highnesses learning “about Ireland’s culture”.

The Royal couple had a prior engagement before flying to Ireland, with Prince Louis’ christening the day before they flew out.

Prince Louis’ christening was taking place at the Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace.