Prince Charles praises ambition

The Prince of Wales used a private address to Church of England bishops yesterday to seek to end the damaging row over his views on people "rising above their station".

The Prince of Wales used a private address to Church of England bishops yesterday to seek to end the damaging row over his views on people "rising above their station".

The Prince stuck carefully to a form of words already leaked to Sunday newspapers to deny claims that emerged in an employment tribunal last week.

Speaking to bishops at an event hosted by the Archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth Palace, he said it was a "travesty of the truth" to think he did not believe people should better themselves. He said he had never "used any such words". The Prince said: "Ambition is a good thing and should never be constrained by a person's starting point in life."

The row was stoked last week by Charles Clarke, the Education Secretary, who described the Prince's views as "patronising and old-fashioned".