Labour put under pressure on royals

Tory party managers resolved last night to keep up the pressure on Labour to declare whether it supports the monarchy following the controversy sparked by Ron Davies, the spokesman on Wales. The move came after the demand by Tony Blair that Mr Davies apologise for saying the Prince of Wales was unfit to be king.

A significant number of Tory MPs were last night preparing to table a Commons early day motion condemning Mr Davies' criticisms of the Prince. Amid informal estimates by Labour MPs that up to 80 per cent of backbenchers could be republican, left-wingers in the party ignored Mr Blair's effort to end the row by demanding a Commons debate.

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