Letters written by Prince Charles and sent to the British government will not be made public because they could undermine his future role as king.
Departments of Tony Blair's Labour government, in power between 1997 and 2007, received 27 letters from Charles containing "particularly frank" political views, British newspaper The Daily Telegraph has reported.
UK Attorney-General Dominic Grieve this week ruled that the letters must be kept secret because their contents could "seriously damage" Charles' future as monarch.
"If he forfeits his position of political neutrality as heir to the throne, he can not easily recover it when he is king," Mr Grieve said.
The ruling came despite the decision of three British judges that there was an overwhelming public interest in the letters, penned between September 2004 and April 2005 and sent to departments including business, health, education, environment and culture.
While the content of the letters is unknown, Mr Grieve's 10-page reasoning behind his decision cited that the Prince's correspondence had been "urging a particular view on ministers".
Mr Grieve's decision ends a seven-year freedom of information battle over the release of the letters, launched by British newspaper The Guardian.
"The letters ... are in many cases particularly frank. They also contain remarks about public affairs which would, in my view, have had a material effect upon the willingness of the government to engage in correspondence with the Prince of Wales, and would potentially have undermined his position of political neutrality," the attorney-general said.
Mr Grieve's decision attracted criticism from freedom of information campaigners and anti-monarchist groups.
