Letter from John W. Dulanty to Sir Alan 'Tommy' Lascelles (London)
(Confidential)

As I explained to you yesterday, my Government have given careful consideration to the question of the former practice under which occasional messages were sent by King George to Irish nationals on such events as one hundredth birthdays, diamond weddings, etc., and feel that this is a practice which cannot now be continued.

The place and functions of King George in our State are, as I pointed out, definitely delimited in the Executive Authority (External Relations) Act, 1936, and any action which went beyond those statutorily defined limits would, undoubtedly, lead to unfavourable reactions in Ireland (and to a situation which would, presumably, be equally unwelcome in this country). Since our Constitution was enacted in 1937, the practice in question is now not only inappropriate but has also undesirable implications from the point of view of the 'British Subject' issue. Further, having regard to the insinuations made recently in the Dáil about the respective positions of the President and King George as Head of our State,¹ messages of the kind under consideration would now be certain to lead to misrepresentation of the real situation and also to sharp criticism and controversy in Ireland. Such a situation Mr. de Valera would, as I assured you, greatly deplore, and I would like to emphasise again what I said yesterday that he regards it as of vital importance to avoid even the slightest risk of public controversy in Ireland which would involve King George personally. You will, I feel sure, be as anxious as we are to avoid any development of this kind and would, with us, regard as deplorable the unfavourable reactions which controversy on this question would inevitably have on the relations between our two countries.