Prince Charles courts controversy over ‘meddling’ row

His advisers have separately pressed senior ministers to bring government policy into line with the prince’s views,including on hospital building and the design of ecotowns,the Guardian newspaper said.

The disclosures has sparked an outrage that the Prince of Wales,who earlier referred to himself as a “dissident” is interfering in political matters when many believe he should remain neutral if he wishes to become king.

Leaks of previous correspondence,known among ministers as “black spider memos” due to the prince’s sprawling handwriting style,provoked a backlash among politicians furious that an unelected royal was meddling in the affairs of democratic government,the report said.

Since 2006,according to the British daily,Charles wrote to politicians leading eight government departments and his advisers wrote to five. His senior aides wrote to Patricia Hewitt,who was health secretary,pushing for all hospital trusts to use the design technique pioneered by Charles’s architecture charity.

“He has to be very careful to respect the traditional separation between the democratically accountable parts of the constitution and the ceremonial parts,” said Chris Huhne,the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman.

In June,a leading architect whose plans for a modern building were scrapped following criticism from Prince Charles,slammed his intervention as “totally unconstitutional.”

The prince’s strong views against modern architecture have caused controversy before,notably when he 25 years ago lambasted plans for a new wing of London’s National Gallery as a “monstrous carbuncle”.

Former Sports Minister Richard Caborn demanded that all such letters should be in the public domain and it was was wrong to keep them secret.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has ordered a block on the disclosure of correspondence sent to ministers by members of the royal family,the report said.

Charles spokesman denied that the prince’s household had lobbied the government to stop all disclosures of his letters and defended his right to secrecy,saying it was his right to communicate confidentially with ministers on matters that concern him.

“It is generally accepted that the heir to the throne should be aware of the business of government and that correspondence between government ministers should be treated as private and confidential on all sides,” he said.