Prince Charles urged former British Prime Minister Tony Blair to reconsider his government's ban on fox hunting.
Prince Charles
The 68-year-old royal wrote to Blair in 2002 in a bid to halt plans to push a ban through Parliament, with Prince Charles describing the now-outlawed sport as "romantic" and environmentally friendly".
In the controversial letter - which has been unearthed by the Mail on Sunday newspaper - he says: "There are a number of former hunt saboteurs and passionate opponents of hunting who have ... come to the conclusion that the welfare of the actual fox is best ensured by a continuation of hunting ... Their fellow opponents are chiefly driven by agendas other than the welfare of the fox - namely their antipathy to the type of person who they think goes out hunting."
Prince Charles - who has frequently been accused of trying to meddle in political matters - is a supporter of fox hunting, having first taken up the sport at the age of 26.
But his influence couldn't halt the fox hunting ban, which came into force in the UK in 2005.
Despite the controversy that continues to surround Prince Charles' political statements, Oxford politics Professor Vernon Bogdanor recently insisted he has the right to express his views in public.
Professor Bogdanor explained: "The rights of the Monarch are to be consulted, to encourage and to warn. He is not the Monarch so has no right to be consulted but he has the right to encourage and to warn."
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