Court rules against gag on prince鈥檚 letters
Print Edition
THE possible publication of potentially embarrassing letters written by British heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles moved a step closer yesterday when a gagging order on them was declared unlawful by a court.
The 27 letters were written by Charles to members of the previous Labour government and have been described by Attorney General Dominic Grieve as “particularly frank.”
The 65-year-old prince has strong views in areas like the environment and has been criticized for apparently using his unelected position to persuade ministers to change official policies through private letters, nicknamed “black-spider memos” because of his scrawled handwriting.
Grieve, the government’s chief legal adviser, has blocked an attempt by the left-leaning Guardian newspaper to have the letters made public under freedom of information laws.
He has said that any perception that Charles had disagreed with the previous government of Tony Blair “would be seriously damaging to his role as future monarch because, if he forfeits his position of political neutrality as heir to the throne, he cannot easily recover it when he is king.”
Yesterday the Appeal Court ruled that Grieve’s ban on publication was unlawful but gave him permission to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Grieve’s office confirmed it would indeed be appealing.
“We are very disappointed by the decision of the Court,” it said. “We will be pursuing an appeal to the Supreme Court in order to protect the important principles which are at stake.”
The Guardian welcomed yesterday’s ruling, adding in a statement: “The public has a right to know if the heir to the throne is advocating policy or promoting causes to government ministers.”
A spokesman for Prince Charles declined to comment.
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