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The Prince of Wales has hit out at “ill-informed speculation” over his plans for kingship and insists he will know where to draw the line when it comes to expressing his views.

In a highly unusual move, his most senior courtier, Sir William Nye, wrote to The Times, which has serialized a controversial biography of the Prince, to say he knows the “limitations” that will be placed on him “should he” become king by outliving the Queen.

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The letter, which would undoubtedly have been signed off by the Prince before it was sent to the newspaper, shows the extent to which the heir to the throne has been stung by days of criticism arising from the book.

Catherine Mayer, a journalist for Time magazine, wrote that the Queen had concerns about the direction in which her son would take the monarchy when she dies, and that Her Majesty feared Britain might not be ready for the “shock of the new.”

In particular, she suggested in Charles: The Heart of a King that the Prince would not be silenced over his views on architecture and the environment.