Secret letters written by Charles to be made public

Secret letters written by Prince Charles to Labour government a decade ago are set to be made public after a long court battle.

The 27 “black spider memos”, are a series of letters and memos written by 66-year-old Charles, Prince of Wales, to British government ministers and politicians, will be released after a decade-long campaign by ‘The Guardian’ newspaper.

The documents are expected to be published by the newspaper, the UK’s Information Commissioner and the Cabinet Office.

The government’s veto on publication was declared unlawful by the Court of Appeal last year - a decision which was upheld by the Supreme Court last month.

The letters, written in 2004 and 2005 while Tony Blair was Prime Minister, will be published with redactions or blanked out portions.

Their publication follows a ruling on Tuesday by the Upper Tribunal of Britain’s Administrative Appeals Chamber.

It said the material could be published subject to any “provisional <g data-gr-id="28">redactions</g>” to protect personal data of people other than the prince.

The letters, which cover the period between September 2004 and April 2005, reflect - according to the previous attorney general Dominic Grieve - Prince Charles’ “most deeply held personal views and beliefs”. In 2005 ‘Guardian’ journalist Rob Evans originally applied to see the Prince’s letters under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOI).

This was initially denied by the information commissioner and several legal decisions followed. In March, Prime Minister David Cameron called the Supreme Court judgement to allow publication “disappointing”.

As heir to the throne, Charles is expected to stay out of political matters as that would seriously damage his role as future monarch.