London
Prince Charles was pilloried in the British press last week for daring to criticize government policy. For some 30 years, the prince has been sending government ministers letters—known to the recipients as “black spiders,” because of Charles’ spiky handwriting and penchant for underlining and exclamation points—in which he expresses his displeasure about Great Britain’s changing society. The royal habit was a secret until last week, when someone leaked a letter from Charles to Tony Blair complaining about the proposed ban on fox hunting. The prince said aristocratic hunters were more “victimized” than ethnic minorities and complained about the “political correctness” destroying British traditions. Most of the press denounced such meddling as inappropriate coming from a future figurehead.
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