The Guardian won a protracted legal battle this week to get letters sent by HRH Prince Charles to the UK Government to be published. These so-called black spider letters (due to the Prince’s handwriting) were dismissed by many as an anti-climax. They weren’t seen to contain much that was embarrassing to Government, although obviously they raise questions about the influence of the monarchy and of private interests on political decisions.

Simon Jenkins has written a good piece about why we should be far more worried about the influence of companies on our political processes, than about His Royal Highness.

But one thing did strike me. Many in the media saw the Prince’s choice of topics to write about as a little bit of a joke, something to be dismissed out of hand. Newsnight in particular had a tongue in cheek moment where they led with concerns about the Prince lobbying the UK Government about the fate of the albatross.

Whatever we think about the Prince’s penchant for letter writing (maybe some of the NGOs should try to recruit him as a volunteer campaign letter writer?) I long for a day when matters like the fate of the albatross are seen as one of the top priorities in our news agenda, rather than a bit of a joke item.