in the Declaration—that India would "accept ... The King as the symbol of the free association of its independent member nations and as such the Head of the Commonwealth"—has been noted for its similarity to de Valera's 1921 proposal for an Irish Republic's "external association" with the Commonwealth, and to the wording of the 1936 External Relations Act. The United Kingdom responded to the Republic of Ireland Act by enacting the Ireland Act 1949. This Act formally asserted that the Irish state had, when the Republic of Ireland Act came into force, ceased "to be part of His Majesty's dominions" and accordingly was no longer within the Commonwealth. Nonetheless, the United Kingdom statute provided that Irish citizens would not be treated as aliens under British nationality law. This, in effect, granted them a status similar to the citizens of Commonwealth countries. List of monarchs Title of the sovereign While Henry VIII of England had adopted "King of Ireland" as a distinct title in 1544, that title was subsumed into a single royal title with the formal unification of Ireland and Great Britain in 1801, and no distinct royal title or style was revived for use in Ireland between 1922 and 1949. Instead, a single style was used throughout the British Commonwealth: 1922–1927: By the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India 1927–1948: By the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India 1948–1949: By the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, Defender of the Faith The changes during this period were effected by acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which authorized the monarchs to make alterations to their style via royal proclamation. However, the wording of the 1927 change, brought about by the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927, was agreed upon at the 1926 Imperial Conference, in which representatives of the Irish Free State participated, and was formulated specifically to reflect the changed Irish political situation. Irish law did not provide any alternate royal style or title during this period. The original text of the Constitution of the Irish Free State simply referred to the monarch as the "King" without further elaboration. The