HRH Prince of Wales' letters to Government published

The Cabinet Office has today published a series of letters sent more than a decade ago between HRH Prince of Wales and various members of the Labour government.

The disclosure follows the landmark victory of the Guardian Newspaper in March this year in R (Evans) v Attorney General [2015] UKSC 21, when journalist Mr Evans won a ten year battle to force disclosure of the correspondence under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. The Supreme Court in Evans held that the Court of Appeal was correct in its finding that a veto on publication of the letters issued by the Attorney General was unlawful.

The letters have become known as the 'black spider memos' because of the Prince's handwriting. They contain a number of revelations relating to the dynamic between the Prince of Wales and the government of the day, and can be viewed at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/latest?departments%5B%5D=cabinet-office

For more information regarding the judgment in Evans, please see our related article Attorney General's veto was unlawful, Supreme Court rules.