Prince Charles maintained contact with a former bishop who was later jailed for abusing young men and occasionally gave him money because he was deceived over the man’s crimes, he has told the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse.

In a written submission to be read at the inquiry next week, the Prince of Wales has said he did not understand that Peter Ball’s caution for gross indecency in 1993 involved an admission of guilt, according to a report in the Times.



In the statement, described as a draft, Charles said he had “decades of correspondence” with Ball and occasionally sent him “small gifts of money, as I do for many people in need”.

The former bishop has described the prince as a “loyal friend”.

Ball was invited to give Communion at Highgrove, the prince’s home, preached at the funeral of Bruce Shand, the Duchess of Cornwall’s father, in 2006 and lived in a Duchy of Cornwall property from 1997 to 2011.

Charles said the bishop told him he had been involved in an “indiscretion” and that an individual with a grudge had been persecuting him.

The prince added: “I was certainly not aware at the time of the significance or impact of the caution ... Whilst I note that Peter Ball mentioned the word in a letter to me in October 2009, I was not aware until recently that a caution in fact carries an acceptance of guilt.”

He expressed “deep personal regret” that he had been deceived by Ball.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Prince Charles said the bishop told him he had been involved in an ‘indiscretion’. Photograph: Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images

Next week’s hearings at the inquiry are to investigate “whether there were inappropriate attempts by people of prominence to interfere in the criminal justice process after [Ball] was first accused of child sexual offences”.



Ball, 86, the former bishop of Gloucester, was sentenced to 32 months for charges relating to 18 teenagers and young men between the 1970s and 1990s when he was bishop of Lewes. He admitted one count of misconduct in public office and two counts of indecent assault relating to two young men.

Ball was first accused in 1993 by Neil Todd, who tried to kill himself three times as a result of his abuse, and went on to do so in 2012.

Sussex police investigated Todd’s claims, and six other victims came forward. But support flooded in for Ball from within the establishment and he was never charged. Instead he received a caution for gross indecency, resigned his post as bishop and was allowed by Carey to continue officiating at church services.

Last year, an independent review of the C of E’s handling of the Ball case, conducted by Dame Moira Gibb, found senior church figures colluded with the accused bishop over a 20-year period. The report said: “The church appears to have been most interested in protecting itself.”

George Carey, the former archbishop of Canterbury, will also give evidence to the inquiry, in person and including cross-examination. He resigned his position as an honorary assistant bishop after being criticised in the Gibb report. His “permission to officiate” was reinstated earlier this year.

A Clarence House spokesperson said on Thursday: “IICSA has asked the Prince of Wales if he could help the part of their inquiry that deals with Mr Peter Ball. Whilst the prince made it clear that he was unaware of Mr Ball’s behaviour, he indicated that he was happy to volunteer context on his contact with Mr Ball if that would help.”

The spokesperson also referred to findings in the Gibb report, which said it had found no evidence “that the Prince of Wales or any other member of the royal family sought to intervene at any point in order to protect or promote Ball”.