Following a newspaper report about The Prince of Wales meeting  Government Ministers, Clarence House pointed out that these meetings are routine and part of his duty as Heir to the Throne.

In preparing for his future role, it is essential that the Heir to the Throne understands the workings of Government, its departments and its senior members. This is why The Prince of Wales stays in touch with not just the Government at Westminster, but also the Government in Scotland and the Assemblies in Wales and Northern Ireland.  Meetings are likely to be more frequent when there is a new Government.

The public are notified of all The Prince’s official meetings and engagements, including those with Government Ministers, via the Court Circular, which is available for any member of the public to see on the British Monarchy website.

Therefore these are not and have never been secret meetings and are a matter of public record.

In many cases The Prince meets Ministers at larger events like conferences and seminars.

The content of the meetings is kept private as is the longstanding convention. It is worth pointing out that the meetings are sometimes requested by Ministers as The Prince, in his unique role, each year undertakes many hundreds of engagements where he interacts with the public and hears their views on various matters and so he is well-placed to relay public opinion on a number of issues.