Britain's Prince Charles given controversial access to confidential cabinet papers

Britain's Prince Charles has been routinely given access to confidential cabinet documents, according to government papers obtained by an anti-monarchy campaign group.

British Cabinet Office's "Precedent Book", drawn up in 1992, shows the prince, Queen Elizabeth II, government ministers and a handful of others get confidential documents from cabinet and ministerial committees, BBC reported Wednesday.

The practice sparked controversy as members of the British royal family are supposed to be politically neutral and not to interfere with political affairs.

The revelation came when the "Precedent Book" was released to anti-monarchy campaign group Republic under a Freedom of Information request.

Republic has called on the practice to stop, saying that the documents would "give Charles a major advantage when lobbying ministers."

"He would also benefit from access to market sensitive information without any need to disclose his financial interests," Republic said in a statement.

Republic's CEO Graham Smith said Charles has no legitimate need to see cabinet papers.

"The disclosure of cabinet papers to Prince Charles is quite extraordinary and completely unacceptable," he said.

"His political and private interests and the high degree of secrecy surrounding his lobbying mean there is a real danger this information can be abused without any possibility of accountability," he warned.

In the letter to British Prime Minister David Cameron, Republic said: "It is plainly wrong that Charles can lobby on new policy proposals even before the public are aware of the existence of such proposals."

A Cabinet Office spokesperson defended the practice, saying: "It has been established practice for many years that the sovereign and the heir to the throne receive the minutes of cabinet meetings. It is important that the head of state and her heir are properly briefed."

Clarence House said on Tuesday the documents were sent to Charles "as part of his constitutional role as heir to the throne," but the British Monarchy website stated that there is no established constitutional role for the heir to the throne, according to the Guardian. Enditem