Had two ordinary blokes from Ballymurphy and the Bogside been photographed warmly welcoming British royals to Ireland, life would have been made hell for them not that long ago.
I can imagine 'Brit lover', 'Traitor' and a whole host of other insults being yelled on the streets. Maybe bricks would have shattered their windows.
Yet Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness are now first in the queue to meet and greet royalty, and it's cool.
Indeed, Gerry gripped Princes Charles' hand so long that one observer wondered if he'd been super glued to him.
The media has bought the Sinn Féin spin that this is a magnanimous act. Let's cut the cr*p – it's political opportunism disguised as reconciliation.
Declan Kearney spouted such a sea of soundbites about this visit on the Nolan Show that it was impossible to understand anything he was saying.
Sinn Féin's motivation is to boost its electoral support in the South with voters who previously would have waved garlic in front of a party representative.
Leafing through old issues of An Phoblacht, I found one article denouncing the SDLP's Seamus Mallon for meeting the "Para Prince".
This wasn't at the height of the conflict but long after the Good Friday Agreement when the Stormont executive was up and running.
Later articles denounce the "parasitical Windsors" and lambast Charles' alleged tax avoidance schemes. Yet nowadays, apparently, republicans can do royalty.
And Paul Maskey and Gerry Kelly attend protests during the royal visit their party leaders are integrally involved in. Some might like Sinn Féin's writhing and wriggling. I prefer my politicians more straightforward and consistent.
