EVEN as the free world, including former wartime foes Germany, Japan, and Italy, mourned the 1965 death of Sir Winston Churchill, the Irish would neither forgive nor forget, according to secret Foreign Office papers newly released at the Public Record Office, Kew.

Arguably the resentment demonstrated towards the UK by Eamon De Valera, then president of the Republic, left wounds in the relationship between the two nations that only now are beginning to heal. De Valera and Sean Lemass, the then taoiseach, chose to snub Churchill's state funeral at St Paul's, even though Ludwig Erhard, the West German chancellor, made a point of being present.

There were loud voices in southern Ireland saying that, had De Valera chosen to travel to London, it would have been a ''very gracious act of reconciliation''. But De Valera would have nothing to do with it. Ireland was represented at the funeral by Frank Aitken, foreign minister, and its ambassador to London.

In public, De Valera had paid grudging tribute to the British wartime leader. ''Sir Winston was a great Englishman, one of the greatest in his time, a tower of strength to his own people and to their allies and for this he will be acclaimed in their hour of need. But we in Ireland had to regard Sir Winston over a long period as a dangerous adversary,'' he had said.

In private, De Valera sent a personal message of condolence to Lady Churchill. But De Valera's likely response to being invited to Churchill's funeral was predicted three years earlier.

Secret 1962 Commonwealth Relations office papers inquired whether De Valera would consider it a friendly gesture if he was invited to Churchill's funeral, when the time came.

Sir Ian Maclennan, the UK's then ambassador in Dublin, predicted that De Valera might just forgive Churchill over his role in the 1921 treaty that led to the partition of Ireland.

It was also revealed yesterday that as it would have been be too dangerous, and undignified, for the Queen to attend the 1971 extravaganza planned by the Shah of Iran to mark his dynasty's 2500th anniversary, the Foreign Office put pressure on a youthful Prince Charles to take her place. However, the 22-year-old put his foot down, and insisted it was more important he carried on with his studies as a potential naval officer at Dartmouth college.

The three-day party organised by the last Shah of Iran cost an estimated (pounds) 142m. It included 165 French chefs serving a ton of caviar to thousands of foreign dignitaries. At the time, vast areas of Iran were stricken with famine, and the sheer extravagance of the affair was the first shot in bringing to an end the Shah's dynasty.

Having concluded that the Queen could not possibly attend the festivities amid the ancient ruins of Persepolis, the Foreign Office suggested that this would be an ''interesting and novel'' experience for Prince Charles.

Despite the pressure put on him from officials who reckoned his absence would be seen as a snub to the Shah which might affect the UK's oil interests in the region, he stood by his guns. The Duke of Edinburgh and Princess Anne attended the celebrations.