Charles: I did not try to fix bishop probe
Inquiry told of ‘deceit’ by abuser Ball
PRINCE Charles has denied trying to influence a police investigation into a paedophile bishop.
But he regretted being “deceived” by Peter Ball, he told the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse yesterday.
The prince was friends for two decades with Ball, who in 1993 had been cautioned for gross indecency.
The inquiry is probing how allegations against Ball, 86, jailed in 2015 for sex abuse of 18 young men over 30 years, were handled.
Charles wrote to the hearing: “At no stage did I seek to influence the outcome of investigations.
“In the 1980s and 1990s there was a presumption that bishops could be taken at their word.” He added: “My heart goes out to the victims of abuse and I applaud their courage.”
But the prince told the inquiry he could not “shed any light” on who he was referring to when he wrote to Ball in 1997: “I will see off this horrid man if he tries anything again.”
Ball had told the prince a single accuser had led to him having to quit as Bishop of Gloucester. The prince told the inquiry: “I regret I am unable to shed any light on references made to a ‘horrid man’ or a ‘terrifying man’.
“I recall Peter Ball felt numerous individuals, including critics in the media, were doing all in their power to disadvantage him unfairly.”