Jailed: Former Bishop of Gloucester Peter Ball is pictured arriving at the Old Bailey yesterday, where he was sentenced to 32 months in prison

Prince Charles last night denied interfering in the police investigation of a predatory bishop after the Royal family was sensationally linked to an Establishment cover up of his crimes.

The heir to the throne was forced to deny interfering in the legal process to help Peter Ball escape sex abuse charges as the 83-year-old was finally brought to justice yesterday over offences against boys dating back 40 years.

Charles's extraordinary statement came after the Old Bailey was told a royal had written in support of the former Bishop of Lewes and Gloucester when he was first investigated.

A member of the Royal family is understood to have been among MPs, cabinet ministers, public school headmasters and a former lord chief justice all said to have assisted Ball.

The astonishing claims emerged on the day Scotland Yard's VIP abuse inquiry team faced fresh turmoil after being forced to apologise to Lord Brittan's widow over its bungled probe into false rape allegations against him.

On Tuesday, the BBC's Panorama cast grave doubt on the reliability of the inquiry's key witnesses.

Ball was jailed for 32 months at the Old Bailey yesterday.

But in 1993 he was let off with a caution after admitting gross indecency against a boy of 17.

The royal who wrote to support him was not named in court, but Ball counted Charles as a 'loyal friend' and publicly thanked him for providing him with a Duchy of Cornwall home following his criminal caution.

Ball also read the homily at the funeral of the father of Camilla Parker Bowles in 2006.

A spokesman for Charles insisted: 'The Prince of Wales made no intervention in the judicial process on behalf of Peter Ball.'

He failed to deny there had been a letter in support of Ball but did highlight a subsequent statement by the CPS which said they had no evidence that the letter had actually been written.

In sentencing it was revealed that the former bishop:

Trawled schools to hand-pick vulnerable teens for abuse;

Promised a teenage monk he would one day become a saint if he accepted his advances;

Convinced another teenager that he could treat his problems with sexual acts;

Obstructed the career of a young priest who had spurned him.

Allegations against Ball were first made in 1992 by novice monk Neil Todd, one of many boys abused at the bishop's house at Litlington, East Sussex.

Bobbie Cheema QC, prosecuting, said the teenager had been introduced by Ball to what he called 'penitential psalms'.

This involved saying prayers naked at night in a chapel before Ball watched the teenager taking a cold shower and pulled down his underpants.

Royal: Ball is pictured in 1992 with the Prince of Wales, whom he once described as 'a loyal friend'

Ball, who called the youngster 'love' and 'gorgeous', went on to suggest he be beaten with a stick or whipped so his body could 'bear the marks'.

The abuse emerged after he tried to commit suicide in 1992. Gloucestershire Police launched an investigation, prompting more victims to come forward.

But Ball was let off with a caution after the police received dozens of supportive phone calls from 'MPs, former public school headmasters, JPs and even a Lord Chief Justice,' the Old Bailey was told.

'The defence claimed to have more than two thousand letters of support … including letters from cabinet ministers and Royal Family,' said Mr Cheema.

'It is impossible to say whether those letters were encouraged and it is unlikely that those who wrote were in possession of the full facts.'

Richard Scorer, of Slater and Gordon, a law firm representing some of Ball's victims, said: 'The way in which senior clergy and establishment figures – including MPs, Cabinet ministers and members of the Royal Family – closed ranks around him has only compounded his victims' anguish.

Help: George Carey, left, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, allowed Ball, right, to carry on preaching after he was cautioned for sex offences

'This has reinforced the impression their abuse was inflicted upon them with the institutional backing of the Church.'

Earlier this year, Mr Justice Sweeney refused to dismiss the case on a legal technicality after it emerged that Ball and Lord Carey, then the archbishop of Canterbury, had been assured in 1993 that there would be no future action.

Giving evidence, Ball recalled being told by a police officer 'Bishop, it's all over' when he asked for a guarantee that his caution would include all other offences 'of the same nature'.

Despite quitting in disgrace, Ball was also allowed to return to the Church two years after his caution and officiated in the diocese of Bath & Wells until 2010.

And he launched a shameless attempt to have his caution overturned, accusing his victim of 'malice'.

Denial: When asked if the Royal who sent a letter of support on behalf of Ball was Prince Charles (pictured), a Clarence House spokesman said he 'made no intervention in the judicial process on behalf of Peter Ball'

After his second arrest in 2015 he claimed his victims had been 'spiritually uplifted' by his treatment of them.

Ball changed his plea at the last minute and admitted to offences against 18 teenagers and young men between 1977 and 1992.

The Church of England yesterday apologised to the former bishop's victims and insisted Ball had also 'abused the trust placed in him by the Church'.

Sources close to the prince were keen last night to point out that no evidence that such a support letter had ever been written had been produced in court.

A Clarence House spokesman also made clear that the Duchy of Cornwall home had been purchased by the estate, not by Charles, and was rented in the 'normal manner'.

UPDATE: A spokesman for the CPS said on Friday that they had not seen the alleged correspondence referred to in court and were ‘unable to verify’ its existence.

They also confirmed an earlier statement from Clarence House that there was ‘no indication of interference by the Prince of Wales’.

They said: ‘In the matter of Bishop Peter Ball the CPS has not received any correspondence, nor seen any correspondence to others, from any member of the Royal family.

‘The information we hold does not indicate any interference in this case by the Prince of Wales.

‘As stated in the opening statement of the case on Wednesday 7 October in court, the CPS was informed by the police in 1993 that the defence team were believed to hold around 2,000 letters of support for the Bishop which, the defence claimed, included correspondence from the “Royal family”. The CPS can’t verify any details of this claim.’

On Wednesday CPS prosecutor Bobbie Cheema QC told the Old Bailey that they had ‘investigated the way in which the police and prosecuting authorities dealt with the allegations against Peter Ball in 1993’ in order to explain why he was not prosecuted for two of the three offences he had now pleaded guilty to at the time of the initial police investigation.

He said: ‘The police report that accompanied the papers sent to the Crown Prosecution Service in 1993 after the police had done their work stated they had received telephone calls supportive of Peter Ball “from many dozens of people – including MPs, former Public school headmasters, JPs and even a Lord Chief Justice (Lloyd)”. In addition it was reported that the defence claimed to have more than “two thousand letters of support . . . including letters from cabinet ministers and Royal Family”. I should make it clear that it is impossible to say whether those letters were encouraged and it is unlikely that those who wrote were in possession of the full facts.’

Disgraced bishop who Charles refused to abandon: How Peter Ball rented house from the Duchy of Cornwall after being cautioned over sexual assault

Royal ties: Ball, seen arriving at court yesterday, rented a house from the Duchy of Cornwall - the private estate which funds the heir to the throne

When the Duchess of Cornwall lost her father in June 2006, Bishop Ball was invited to deliver a homily at his funeral.

His inclusion at such a high-profile event – attended by Prince Charles and his sons William and Harry – was a clear indication of Ball's status in royal circles.

Yet 13 years before the funeral, he had been forced to resign after being cautioned by police over a sexual assault on a teenage monk.

Ball was even renting a house from the Duchy of Cornwall – the private estate which funds the heir to the throne.

He had moved in shortly after his very public disgrace.

Sources close to the prince were last night were unable to confirm whether he had ever written a letter in support of Ball.

And they were keen to point out that even lawyers involved in the case are unable to give details.

At the time of Bruce Shand's funeral at Holy Trinity Church in Stourpaine, Dorset, Ball was still working for the Anglican Church.

A royal source insisted last night there was nothing untoward, adding: 'It's wholly unfair for the prince to be dragged into the centre of a sexual abuse case.'

And yet Charles and his advisers could not fail to have been aware of what had happened.

Ball's arrest in December 1992 was major news at the time, not least because he was one of the church's best known characters, refusing to wear the ceremonial purple of a bishop in favour of simple, monastic robes, sleeping on the floor and taking vows of celibacy.

He had been Bishop of Gloucester for just eight months and Charles was among the guests at his enthronement.

His decision to accept a formal police caution for the offence in March 1993 involved, said Gloucestershire Police, a 'clear admission of guilt as a prerequisite of being cautioned'.

And yet within weeks he had moved into a pretty Duchy property, Manor Lodge in the village of Aller, Somerset. It is claimed that Princess Diana had banned him from visiting Highgrove.

At the time Ball said controversially: 'He [Prince Charles] has been wonderfully kind and allowed me to have a Duchy house. The prince is a loyal friend.

High-profile event: When the Duchess of Cornwall lost her father in June 2006, Bishop Ball was invited to deliver a homily at his funeral. Above, the Duchess and Prince Charles on a visit to the U.S. in March

'I have immense admiration for him. He has been through horrific times and is a great person.'

It has been claimed, not least by one of Ball's other alleged victims, that the house was 'purchased' for him by the estate as some sort of gift – a claim Clarence House has angrily rejected.

A spokesman explained yesterday: 'The property [Manor Lodge] was purchased by the Duchy of Cornwall, not by the Prince of Wales, and was tenanted in the usual manner.

'The Duchy of Cornwall owns over a thousand residential properties across the UK. The Prince of Wales, as Duke of Cornwall, holds the legal title to these properties; the Law requires that his name appears on the deeds.'

Asked what the 'usual manner' was and how long Ball had lived there for, the spokesman added: 'While Bishop of Gloucester, the diocese which contains Highgrove, Peter Ball rented one of these properties from the Duchy of Cornwall.

'Mr Ball vacated the property before his arrest in 2011. It was subsequently re-let to another tenant. The Duchy of Cornwall eventually sold the property in 2015.'

I don't feel Ball was ever properly punished – but the fact that the prince has given sanctuary to this pervert is staggering Neil Todd's mother

One royal source acknowledged that Ball was known to the prince, although they played down suggestions of a close friendship, saying: 'Peter Ball was, until his resignation, the Bishop of Gloucester, which is of course the diocese where Highgrove [Charles's private country home] is. The Prince of Wales knows a number of senior members of the Anglican Church.'

In 1998 the mother of the trainee monk sexually abused by Ball, 17-year-old Neil Todd, expressed her outrage in a tabloid newspaper that he was still living in a Duchy property.

Mr Todd left the Church after telling how Ball forced him to perform sex acts as they lay naked in bed together, take ice-cold, early-morning showers while reading the Bible and stand side by side naked reciting psalms in front of a figure of Christ.

He apparently tried to take his own life three times before committing suicide in 2012.

His mother said: 'This man ruined my son's life. He is pure evil, a beast, and he's hiding behind God.

'This is quite unbelievable. I don't know what Prince Charles thinks he is doing. The man ruined my son's life and should have been locked away.

'Instead he now lives in luxury on one of the finest estates in the country. I don't feel Ball was ever properly punished – but the fact that the prince has given sanctuary to this pervert is staggering.

'I believe in the royals and support what they do, but Charles needs to look at the facts before housing someone like that. This is staggering and unreal.'

Charles was photographed with Ball in 1992, before he was arrested.



