Britain’s Prince Charles should have his letters "respected", a court heard yesterday (24.11.14).
Government lawyers appeared at London’s Supreme Court for the first in a two-day hearing in which they are challenging an appeal court decision that agreed the prince’s notes to ministers should be made public.
James Eadie, QC, for the Attorney General told the panel of seven judges, led by Supreme Court president Lord Neuberger: "Everyone has the right to respect for their correspondence.
"Such respect is necessary not only as an aspect of privacy, but also to enable freedom of expression, which would inevitably be inhibited by the removal of the right to communicate privately.
"All the more so in the case of the Prince of Wales, whose freedom to express himself publicly is constrained by his role as heir to the throne."
The hearing is the latest round in a nine-year legal dispute which began when Guardian journalist Rob Evans applied to see a number of letters between Charles and various government departments between September 2004 and April 2005 amid controversy over claims the 66-year-old prince "meddled" in politics.
The High Court rejected the case but in March this year, Court of Appeal judges ruled unanimously that the then-Attorney General, Dominic Grieve – whose post was taken by Jeremy Wright in July – had "no good reason" for using his ministerial veto to override a tribunal that had previously decided the letters should be published.
The hearing continues today (25.11.14), when lawyers for the newspaper present their case.
Prince Charles deserves letter respect
