On 6 June, during his evidence in the court case he has brought against the publisher of the Mirror, the Duke of Sussex lashed out at the Government, which he said was at “rock bottom.” It has long been a constitutional convention that members of the royal family do not criticise elected politicians publicly. Alistair Lexden commented on this breach of precedent in a letter published in The Times on 8 June.
Sir, Members of the royal family have always watched their tongues when speaking publicly about politics in modern times (“Duke launches political attack”, Jun 7). One has to go to the archives to find out what they really thought. George V’s diary abounds with withering criticisms of Lloyd George and his contempt for constitutional conventions in the early 1920s. But not a word was breathed in public. Edward VIII was felt to have strained the customary discretion almost to breaking point when he declared famously on a visit to Wales in 1936 that “something must be done” about high unemployment. Politicians were glad when he went swiftly into exile. It is perhaps a pity that, unlike the Duke of Windsor, Prince Harry is able to return from his exile to go further than any other royal in making political comments publicly.
Lord Lexden
Conservative Party historian
