Prince Charles' secret letters to government ministers are published after 10-year fight

Britain's former attorney general had argued that the correspondence could be "seriously damaging" to Charles's possible role as monarch if released.

But others insist that scrutiny of the letters is important to assess whether Charles — the heir to the throne — took liberties in crossing the traditional divide between the mostly ceremonial role of Britain's royals and the world of political decisions and policymaking.

The British government fought vigorously to block public viewing of the "black-spider" memos — so-called because of Charles's scrawly handwriting style. But in March, Britain's Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Guardian newspaper, which had pushed for their release.

The cache of 27 letters, written between September 2004 and March 2005, covered issues including badger culling, herbal medicine, problems in the dairy sector, and why saving the Patagonian toothfish should be a high government priority. The letters did not trigger the constitutional earthquake some had predicted, leading many to question why the government fought so hard and at such huge expense to keep the letters private.

A lengthy statement from Charles's office said he "believes, as have successive governments, that he should have a right to communicate privately."

"The publication of private letters can only inhibit his ability to express the concerns and suggestions which have been put to him in the course of his travels and meetings," it added.

But Charles and other members of the royal family are expected to remain out of day-to-day political affairs. And the letters reveal the scale of the prince's lobbying and will be poured over by the British media to see if any of the prince's missives successfully influenced public policy.

In one letter in September 2004, the Prince of Wales writes to the then prime minister Tony Blair and raises concerns about equipment given to soldiers in Iraq.

"Our armed forces are being asked to do an extremely challenging job (particularly in Iraq) without the necessary resources," Charles writes.

In a separate letter to Blair, he urges him to introduce a badger cull as a response to bovine tuberculosis, calling opponents to the cull "intellectually dishonest."

In sharp contrast to Queen Elizabeth II — who seems to reign serenely above the fray and is known for her dignified silence — her eldest son Charles has made his views known on a smattering of topics from aesthetics to farming, and has been firing off missives to ministers for decades.

But until now — with the exception of a few leaked letters — his letters to politicians have largely remained private.

Critics of the monarchy say that the letters could cast doubt on the suitability of Charles as the future monarch with his political neutrality coming under scrutiny. His supporters say he should be allowed to express his views in private correspondence, and that his approach will change when he becomes king.