Madam, - For some time now I have been perplexed by RTÉ's description of the head of state of our nearest neighbour as "Queen Elizabeth of England".
From the accession of the House of Stuart until 1949 the British monarch has held the official title of King (or Queen) of England, Scotland and Ireland (thereafter Northern Ireland). For her to lose two-thirds of her title at the hands of RTÉ seems to me to be more than an act of carelessness and worthy of investigation.
Buckingham Palace informs me that the present monarch's official title is Queen Elizabeth II of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Our own Department of Foreign Affairs concurs with Buckingham Palace.
Apart from RTÉ and the stilted rhetoric of republican spokespeople, I have never heard Elizabeth II referred to as anything other than "the Queen" - and in tones that suggested an unconscious familiarity with the term.
Perhaps RTÉ, which is so correct in everything else it says, could correct what, to misquote Talleyrand, is worse than a mistake - it is an insult. - Yours, etc.,
ARTHUR BROOMFIELD, Ballyfin, Portlaoise, Co Laois.