Prince Charles comes under fire for trying to impose his 'views' on ministers

London, Dec. 17 (ANI): Prince Charles has come under fire for allegedly interfering in government policy by writing directly to eight ministers of the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's cabinet over the last three years.

Documents obtained by the Guardian, using the Freedom of Information Act, disclosed that Prince Charles, who has strong views on the environment, farming and architecture, wrote to ministers in departments including the Treasury, Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the education department.

It was also revealed that advisers to the heir to the throne pressed senior cabinet ministers to bring government policy into line with the prince's beliefs on matters including hospital building and the design of ecotowns.

The disclosures have fuelled growing concern over the prince's continued meddling in political matters, which may hamper his chances of becoming king one day.

Chris Huhne, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, said: "He has to be very careful to respect the traditional separation between the democratically accountable parts of the constitution and the ceremonial parts. The Prince of Wales is entitled to ask about what is going on but if he is urging a particular point of view, then that's a different matter."

Former Sports Minister Richard Caborn said it was wrong to keep the letters secret.

"He is entitled to press his views. I would treat it no differently to anybody else's. If he is making his views known to ministers, they should be in the public domain. He can't have it both ways," he added.

Charles's spokesperson rebutted the criticism, saying his role as a privy counsellor gave him the 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. (ANI)