Now Hain enters war of words on Charles

A third Cabinet minister today waded into the row between the Labour Party and Prince Charles.

Leader of the Commons and Welsh Secretary Peter Hain defended his colleague Charles Clarke, who launched an unprecedented onslaught on the Prince who criticised the Government's education policies.

Mr Clarke called Charles " old-fashioned and out of time". Health Secretary John Reid also fired a broadside at the Prince, saying his views were plain "wrong". Mr Hain said he fully supported Mr Clarke. "The Prime Minister has said he fully supports Charles Clarke and so do I," he said. "Is it right that the Prince of Wales should express his views? Yes.

"Is it right that those views, having been expressed and publicly ventilated, should be debated? Yes. And that is exactly what Charles Clarke was doing." Labour's vitriolic-attacks on Prince Charles have left him "deeply upset" and " frustrated", his aides said today.

Palace insiders say the Prince was "incredibly frustrated" that his views had been "misrepresented".

Labour's tirade came after the Prince criticised Britain's "child centred" education system for fuelling unrealistic ambitions.

In a private memo, Charles complained of a learning culture that led young people to believe they could succeed at anything without talent or hard work. His comments provoked a furious reaction from a Labour government already seething at the Prince's criticisms of its policies on GM foods, foxhunting and Lords reform.

In language tinged with republican overtones, Dr Reid said: "I think he's wrong on this one. I'm a meritocrat. I do believe that people get themselves out of disadvantage; that the biggest driving force for social change in this country is people's own ambition."

In his attack, Mr Clarke said of Charles: "He is very old-fashioned

and out of time and doesn't actually understand what's going on in the British education system."

The broadsides ended the unwritten convention that senior ministers do not criticise the royal family.

The Prince's communications secretary Paddy Harverson said Charles's views had been misrepresented. "He has spoken about education many times and has been passionate about it for a long time. Not least because he's had the Prince's Trust for 30 years helping young people get an opportunity in life," he said.

Charles had written an explosive memo after one of his staff complained about promo t ion prospects. "What is it that makes everyone seem to think they are qualified to do things beyond their technical capabilities?" he wrote.