Prince Charles' secret letters to ministers made public
The controversial secret letters, sent by Britain's Prince Charles to government ministers in 2004-5, have finally been made public after a decade-long court battle.
The 27 letters have been published by the Guardian, the Information Commissioner and the Cabinet Office.
The correspondence known as the "black spider" memos because of the heir to the British throne's unusual handwriting and that was sent to ministers between September 2004 and March 2005, when Tony Blair was the country's prime minister.
The letters reveal close nexus between Charles and Blair. Memo show Charles lobbied Blair on hosts of issues, from defense to environment, food and rural affairs.
In one letter, the prince asked the then premier to replace Lynx military helicopters, saying the British troops lacked "necessary resources" in the Iraq war.
One memo also complained to Blair about the Office of Fair Trading - an independent body responsible for protecting consumer interests in the UK. "Unfortunately, I am told that the Office of Fair Trading is becoming a serious obstacle to developing dairy co-operatives of the necessary size and influence," the prince wrote.
A Guardian journalist initially attempted to get the letters released under the Freedom of Information Act but was unsuccessful. However, in March, the Supreme Court upheld a ruling to allow the so-called black-spider memos to be published.
Campaigners, time and again, accused the government of protecting the Prince of Wales from scrutiny over what the former attorney general Dominic Grieve described as Charles’s “particularly frank” interventions on public policy in the letters. The government, however, contended that the letters contain Charles’ “most deeply held personal views and beliefs” that may undermine his position of political neutrality.
According to the British media reports, the government's attempts to block the release of letters had cost the taxpayer more than £400,000 in legal fees.
SKL/SKL
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