Editorial: A bad heir day for the Attorney-General

Even though a tribunal has ruled that letters written by the Prince of Wales to various government ministers should be disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act, the Attorney-General has vetoed their publication.

The Government's top lawyer, Dominic Grieve, maintains that the missives were part of Prince Charles's "preparation for becoming King" and that he had engaged in the correspondence assuming it to be confidential.

Prince Charles is well known for his tendentious views on everything from homeopathy (yes), to modern architecture (no), to traditional teaching methods in schools (yes again). But although Mr Grieve may be right to suggest that the disclosure of the correspondence could damage the Prince's ability to perform his duties when he becomes head of state, surely it was incumbent upon Prince Charles to think of that before putting pen to paper?