A Green Party MP is preparing a bid to bring the King and Royal Household under the Freedom of Information Act, aiming to significantly enhance transparency around the monarchy.
Sian Berry, MP for Brighton Pavilion, intends to amend the 26-year-old legislation, which currently grants the public a general right to access information from public bodies. The Royal Household and the Sovereign are not classified as public authorities under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, allowing other public bodies to withhold communications with the monarch and his office.
Ms Berry told the Press Association that enabling the release of royal-related documents and data would “be a huge step for transparency in what has been a shadowy institution for far too long”.
Her proposed Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill seeks to extend coverage to the Royal Archive, a vast collection of historical documents housed at Windsor Castle’s Round Tower, spanning over 250 years, as well as the Duchies of Cornwall and Lancaster.
The government has recently faced increasing pressure to release royal family documents typically shielded by existing laws. This culminated earlier this year when MPs voted to demand the publication of papers concerning Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s 2001 appointment as a special representative for trade and investment.
A subsequent 31-page dossier revealed attempts to prevent the former Duke of York from being offered “golfing functions” overseas, and noted his preference for “ballet rather than the theatre”. Andrew was arrested in February on suspicion of misconduct in public office, interviewed under caution, and remains under investigation.
Ms Berry stated: “It is outrageous that there is a specific carve-out under freedom of information legislation for the royal family. This unnecessarily shields what should be a perfectly normally accountable part of our constitution, and it has to go.”
She clarified that her proposal aims to scrutinise the royal family’s use of public assets, focusing on “things that are part of the job, not part of their own private lives”.
For the Bill to become law, it would require presentation to Parliament and approval from both MPs and peers. The existing Freedom of Information Act already contains several exemptions, such as those protecting secret special forces missions or MPs’ residential addresses.
Specifically, Section 37 exempts “communications with the sovereign” and their heirs. Other exemptions include information that could “prejudice” the UK’s foreign relations, advice to ministers on policy formulation, and details that might compromise national security.
The government is not expected to support any initiatives to bring the royal family under freedom of information legislation.
