Overview
- The National Archives of Ireland released Department of Foreign Affairs file 2025/124/160 detailing contacts with Prince Charles’s press staff during his separation from Diana.
- Department official Joe Hayes recorded Sandy Henney’s view that the princess was “by far the more predatory and skilled” and that her team spent time “upstaging” St James’ Palace.
- Charles’s press operation, led by Alan Percival and later Henney, told Irish counterparts the June 1995 trip was “the best public outing the prince has had in a very long time.”
- Advisers presented the two‑day visit as part of a long‑term strategy to rehabilitate Charles’s standing with the British public after the marriage collapsed.
- Officials on both sides noted extensive Irish coverage versus “relatively light” UK reporting, and Henney was described as fiercely loyal and keen for a swift return visit.