Row over prince’s staff at Whitehall

Members of the Prince of Wales’s staff have been working in Whitehall departments, it has been confirmed.

Clarence House confirmed that three staff members had been seconded to government departments over the past five years.

All three were said to be junior personnel who had been given the placements – which ranged from six weeks to two years – to develop their careers.

Suggestions that they had been posted to Whitehall to influence policy of behalf of the Prince were strongly denied.

However someMPs have raised concerns about the placements, saying they will raise the issue in the House of Commons when parliament returns next month.

Two of the staff concerned were seconded to theCabinetOffice while the third went to the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. One has now l eft the Prince’s employment.

A Cl a r e n c e House spokesperson said: “We have had two secondments to government departmentsin the past twoyears. The secondments were suggested on the basis of professional development.

“Bothhavecometoanatural conclusion. There was no official feedback mechanism and no regular meetings were attended with the Prince of Wales’s Household.”

The disclosure comes after it emerged last week that the Prince had had 36 private meetings with Cabinet ministers since the general election in 2010.

One unnamed minister said it raised questions as to whether the Prince was exceeding his position as a constitutional monarch in waiting. He was quoted as saying. “There is a question about whether they are influencing policy.”