By IANS,
London : The British government has blocked release of secret letters written by Prince Charles to ministers, as it feels they may cast doubt on his political neutrality and his role as the future king.
The letters were requested under the Freedom of Information Act. But the attorney general stopped their release, saying they were “particularly frank” and would “potentially have undermined his position of political neutrality” if published, Daily Mail reported.
The High Court had previously ruled that two dozen ‘black spider’ letters which Charles sent during the last Labour government should be revealed.
But the government’s chief legal officer overturned the ruling.
“The Prince of Wales is party-political neutral,” said Dominic Grieve.
“Moreover, it is highly important that he is not considered by the public to favour one political party or another. This risk will arise if, through these letters, the Prince of Wales was viewed by others as disagreeing with government policy.
“Any such perception 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.”