Britain's Prince Charles to visit Ireland

The heir to the British Throne, Prince Charles the Prince of Wales, is to visit the Irish Republic next month, his official residence Clarence House announced Tuesday.

Accompanied by his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, the royal couple will spend four days on a visit to Northern Ireland and Ireland from May 19 to May 22.

A Clarence House spokesman said the visit was being made at the request of the British government.

It will mark the first royal visit to the Irish Republic since Queen Elizabeth II and her husband The Duke of Edinburgh made an historic state visit in 2011. It was the first visit by a reigning British monarch since the Queen's grandfather King George V visited in 1911 when the country was still part of the United Kingdom.

Northern Irish newspaper, Belfast Telegraph, said Tuesday the trip by the Prince and Princess would take them to Mullaghmore in Ireland's County Sligo.

It was there in 1979 that Prince Charles' great uncle, Lord Mountbatten, was assassinated by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) by a remotely controlled bomb which blew up his pleasure boat.

The newspaper also said the royal visitors would visit Dublin.