Prince Charles’s Black letters

A number of letters written by Britain’s Prince Charles to the government have finally been disclosed to the public after a long legal battle. The letters, addressed to the government of former prime minister Tony Blair, have opened up a debate about the influence of Britain’s monarchy on the country’s politics.

It’s been the decade long legal battle of one British newspaper – to get letters written by Prince Charles to the government published.

They’ve been dubbed the black spider memos – because of prince Charles notoriously bad handwriting. But in the end the letters were mostly typed – often lengthy – and give a never before seen insight in to the relationship between the monarchy and politics in Britain.

In a letter to blair, prince Charles lobby’s for military helicopters. I fear that our Armed Forces are being asked to do an extremely challenging job (especially in Iraq) without the necessary resourcing he writes.

The government is now looking at new legislation to block any future attempts to publish letters
These 27 may be the tip of the iceberg, but they may also be the only letters will ever see.