5th March 2007 Dear Mr Henshaw, Thank you for your letters of ...

“I find that what Prince Charles certainly has talked to me about andwritten about is exactly what you would expect. I think that it is completelyunreasonable not to expect that he has views or that he transmits them toGovernment Ministers; but they are not views that I have ever, everregarded, I have to say, as party-political in that sense at all. You know, forexample, he will raise issues sometimes to do with the rural community, orissues to do with, say, voluntary organizations in the UK, which I actuallyfind perfectly helpful and I think you know you can get a very exaggeratedview of how much this happens. I personally don’t think it has ever causeddifficulties for Ministers.”Similarly Lord Falconer said on the Today programme on the same day:“I think that it is perfectly appropriate for somebody in The Prince ofWales’ position to have views about the countryside, about climate change,about big environmental issues, about the Armed Forces………You cannothave views without some people disagreeing with them. That does notseem to me necessarily to involve straying into politics.”The examples you give of The Prince interceding in political issues, thedesign of the National Gallery, modern farming methods, Atlantic salmon,foot and mouth disease, badgers and alternative health, are not, I believe,regarded as “political” by the vast majority of people and my strongexperience is that his comments in these areas have generally beenwelcomed; having said this, His Royal Highness has never spoken in publicabout badgers or the policy of managing foot and mouth disease.It would also, in my view, be more damaging to the Monarchy if ThePrince of Wales did not take advantage of his position to help with issueswhich matter to ordinary people, but which have not found their way ontopolitical agendas. For example, The Prince’s Trust, which has helped wellover half a million young people, would not have been possible if youthdisadvantage were deemed to be a “matter of public policy” and a politicalissue.As His Royal Highness put it when interviewed by Sir Trevor McDonald tomark the 30th anniversary of The Prince’s Trust:“ I think it would be criminally negligent of me to go round this country andelsewhere in the world, and not to want to try and do something about what Ifind there; and if I can bring people together in order to try and tackle the gapsthat exist, and perhaps to remind people of areas that need attention ……..then I think that it is my duty to do so.”