Charles allies 'may have leaked letter'

The Prince of Wales has written to Prime Minister Tony Blair expressing "regret" for the leaking this month of his letter to Mr Blair, which compared the plight of British farmers to that of gays and blacks.

The latest letter from Prince Charles reportedly absolves Downing Street of any blame for the leaking of the letter, which preceded the Countryside Alliance march, and it seeks to continue good relations the Prince has with the Blairs.

Senior aides for Prince Charles told The Sunday Telegraph today that the letter followed a "private acknowledgement" from the Prince that his friends may have spoken "too freely" about the Prince's correspondence.

The Queen was reportedly informed of the latest missive from the Prince, which followed a fortnight that is said to have embarrassed her, as more and more of Prince Charles's late-night letters were leaked to the media.

One royal official told the newspaper: "She [the Queen] has thought for a long time that it is unwise for members of the Royal Family to air their views on hunting because it is such a divisive issue."

Mr Blair did his bit to patch up any perceived problems with the Prince's continuing correspondence to Cabinet ministers, telling The Observer: "He is perfectly entitled to do it. I find the letters helpful, I don't have any problem with them at all."

Mr Blair said some people wanted to undermine the relationship between the Government and the monarchy and he would not be part of this.

The letter leaked this month, and penned in April, suggested that the Prince agreed with a Cumbrian farmer who told him that if "we as a group were black, other ethnic minorities or other minority groups, we would not be victimised or picked upon".

It has also been claimed in press reports that Prince Charles was quoted as having told a senior politician that if Labour banned fox hunting he "might as well leave this country and spend the rest of my life skiing".