AM I misunderstanding the role of the monarchy in this country?

While I’m a fan of the harder working royals, I really don’t understand why Prince Charles – and now Prince William – has had access to secret government papers for decades.

As members of the British monarchy are not invited to make personal statements on political matters, there is absolutely no reason why they should be privy to this. It certainly does explain, though, Prince Charles’ own generally unwelcome pronouncements on sensitive subjects.

The monarchy is not elected and therefore not part of the democratic process, so no privileged information is needed.