Prince Charles won the latest round in a legal battle with a newspaper on Thursday over the unauthorised publication of his private journals, in which he called Chinese diplomats ”appalling old waxworks”.
Two senior Court of Appeal judges upheld an earlier ruling that Queen Elizabeth’s eldest son and heir to the throne had a right to keep his diaries secret.
The tabloid Mail on Sunday published extracts covering a trip to Asia for the 1997 handover of Hong Kong to China. It has seven more of his journals, which had raised the prospect of more revelations.
The judges dismissed claims that publication was in the public interest and said it infringed his confidentiality and copyright.
”His case is overwhelming,” said Lord Phillips, the Lord Chief Justice, the top judge in England and Wales.
Charles’s lawyers had argued he had a ”reasonable and proper expectation” his journals would remain private, being seen only by trusted staff and a small circle of friends and family.
His principal private secretary Michael Peat welcomed the decision, saying: ”This confirms what we have always maintained, that the Prince of Wales, like anyone else, is entitled to keep his private journals private.”
Charles had titled the passage in the published journal as ”The Handover of Hong Kong” or ”The Great Chinese Takeaway.”
In Britain, the royal family is expected to avoid political controversy. But Charles is known for his strong views on everything from architecture to genetically modified foods.
In February, Prime Minister Tony Blair confirmed press reports that Charles regularly writes to ministers.
Associated Newspapers, which owns the Mail on Sunday, said the press should be allowed to reprint leaked documents.
”The Appeal Court’s judgement … represents a very worrying threat to the freedom of the press and to the public’s right to know,” it said. — Reuters