Less than a year later, the historic Good Friday Agreement was signed in Belfast, largely ending the violence in Ulster. A briefing note from Foreign Secretary Robin Cook to Mr Blair said: "Your meeting with the Taoiseach on July 3 was inevitably dominated by discussion of Northern Ireland. "Better so-called 'East/West' relations have intrinsic value and will improve the climate for our exchanges with the Irish over Northern Ireland." "The timing, on the eve of the Irish presidency, is not ideal from the Irish point of view. The visit was deemed so successful that Mr Major subsequently wrote to Irish Taoiseach John Bruton, thanking them for inviting the royal.

Source: Daily Mirror December 30, 2020 00:00 UTC