A relative of Lord Alfred "Bosie" Douglas treated the President, Mrs McAleese, to a few bars of the Oscar Wilde polka yesterday. She was attending an exhibition marking the centenary of Wilde's death, at the British Library.
Lord Gawain Douglas, Bosie's grandson, played the polka on the piano and Mrs McAleese told guests visiting the exhibition, "Oscar Wilde: A Life in Six Acts", that the once disgraced writer and wit was now "back, and with a vengeance".
Visiting the exhibition on the first day of a two-day visit to London, Mrs McAleese said that when Wilde died in Paris he had become a non-person due to his "sudden, precipitous, cruel" fall from grace.
"But it is here in London," she said, "which he loved and which was the centre stage for the performance of his life, that we most fittingly remember him as he was and redeem his memory from that harsh oblivion." Reflecting on a "hesitancy" of ownership of Wilde in Ireland and Britain, Mrs McAleese said that on the anniversary of his death, Ireland was "justly, joyfully" celebrating his work and life, but in the past "Irish people have sometimes been unsure how to regard him".
The chairman of the British Library, Mr John Ashworth, greeted Mrs McAleese and her husband, Dr Martin McAleese, when they arrived at the exhibition. They were guided through the "Six Acts" by its co-curators, Mrs Sally Brown of the British Library, and Wilde's grandson, Mr Merlin Holland.
The British Library exhibition has divided Wilde's life into six acts from his childhood in Dublin and attendance at Trinity College, through Oxford University and his launch on to the London social scene, to his downfall and death in Paris.
One of the most important exhibits on display was the autographed manuscript of De Profundis, Wilde's long, confessional letter written in Reading Gaol to his young lover, Lord Alfred Douglas. Mrs McAleese was presented with a copy of the manuscript.
Later, Mrs McAleese attended a reception at the British Library to commemorate Wilde. Sir Bob Geldof, members of Lord Alfred Douglas's family and the singer Boy George were among the guests.