Judge releases Prince Charles’s diaries

[CHIMO]

LONDON — Prince Charles wasn’t happy about being forced to sit in an “uncomfortable” seat in business class on a flight to Hong Kong. But he didn’t want the world to know about it.

The heir to the throne is seeking to block publication of diaries he kept during trips abroad. But so far the exercise in protecting royal privacy has been a flop.

A judge on Wednesday ordered the immediate release of a 1997 journal, which revealed the prince’s dislike of the Chinese leadership, his view of U.S. and British politicians and his chagrin at having to fly business class.

“I then discovered that (politicians) were comfortably ensconced in first class immediately below us,” he wrote. “Such is the end of the Empire, I sighed to myself.’’

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