Prince Charles’ ‘black spider’ memos to govt ministers due for release

Letters sent by Prince Charles to government ministers are finally expected to be made public later after a 10 year battle to stop them remaining secret. The correspondence - known as the “black spider” memos - were sent by the Prince to several government ministers between September 2004 and March 2005. A Guardian journalist initially attempted to get the contents of the letters released under the Freedom of Information Act but was unsuccessful. After a lengthy appeal process, the UK’s highest court, the Supreme Court, finally agreed to quash the ban on their publication last month. It cleared the way for the memos to be made available.

This is about the principle that senior members of the royal family are able to express their views to government confidentially. I think most people would agree this is fair enough.

Prime Minister David Cameron’s reaction in March when supreme court judges finally approved the publication of the letters

They are known as the “black spider” memos because of the Prince’s distinctive handwriting and abundant use of underlining and exclamation marks. According to previous attorney general Dominic Grieve, they reflect the heir to the throne’s “most deeply held personal views and beliefs”. Mr Grieve vetoed an original decision made by the Upper Tribunal in 2012 that the letters should be made public, but it was eventually ruled that his actions were invalid, paving the way for the documents finally to be disclosed. A number of the letters will be published with some of the passages blacked out following another ruling by the Upper Tribunal on Tuesday. The hearing decided that the material should be subject to “provisional redactions” to protect personal data of people other than Charles. The documents are expected to be published by the Guardian, the Information Commissioner and the Cabinet Office at 3pm.

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