Charles Windsor, who will become Britain’s head of state on the death of his mother, has again been accused of using this status to exercise undue influence on government policy. The charge was made in a Channel 4 documentary.
Mr. Windsor was said to have easy access to government ministers and to have written frequent letters to them lobbying for his personal policy objectives. It was claimed that one result had been national health service financial aid for a controversial publication on complimentary medicine. The correspondence of members of the Windsor family is exempt from public scrutiny under the Freedom of Information Act.
Mr. Windsor was also accused of trying to silence a critic by putting his employment as a university professor in jeopardy. The programme makers claimed that Windsor’s refusal to keep his views on controversial matters to himself could lead to a constitutional crisis when he became head of state and put the monarchy at risk.
As heir to the office of head of state Mr. Windsor is expected to be politically neutral.
Attention was drawn to Mr. Windsor’s exemption from income tax on earnings from the Duchy of Cornwall. The programme stated that the Duchy’s property holdings belonged to Mr. Windsor. In fact they are state property that he is allowed to benefit from.
Mr. Windsor was said to live extravagantly and to be hypocritical in his environmentalism. He provided bikes for his staff while travelling short distances by helicopter and private
train. The programme questioned whether Mr. Windsor was good value for money.
The documentary failed to point out the contradiction that many see between recognising an individual as a “prince” and criticism of him for behaving as one. Nor to the how the oath of loyalty that Members of Parliament swear to Mr. Windsor’s mother and family members might encourage them to expect privileged access.