The Prince of Wales sees himself as a "dissident" working against current political opinion, a court heard yesterday.

He also knows politicians are worried about his outspoken views, the High Court was told.

The revelations were contained in a witness statement which the Prince had originally wanted to keep secret during his court attempt to stop further publication of his private diaries.

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Mark Bolland, the Prince's assistant private secretary from 1996 to 1997 and deputy private secretary until 2002, is giving evidence for the Mail on Sunday, which is fighting his former boss's confidentiality action.

His witness statement was released for publication after Hugh Tomlinson QC, representing the Prince at the High Court, said they would no longer seek to keep the document secret.

Mr Bolland, in his witness statement, also backed earlier newspaper reports that the Prince did not attend a return state banquet thrown by Chinese President Jiang Zemin "as a deliberate snub to the Chinese because he did not approve of the Chinese regime".

"Despite our best efforts, he did not always avoid politically contentious issues, if he felt strongly about particular issues or Government policies.

"In fact, he would readily embrace the political aspects of any contentious issue he was interested in and this is an aspect of his role which the Prince saw as particularly important."

He said the Prince's letters and speeches about politically contentious or sensitive issues were often circulated around the office for all his staff to read.

"I was always surprised that these letters were not treated as more private or sensitive and, indeed, was always surprised that they were written at all."

Mr Bolland said: "The Prince's very definite aim in all this activity, as he explained to me, was to influence opinion. He saw that as part of the job of the heir apparent.

"He carried it out in a very considered, thoughtful and researched way.

"He often referred to himself as a 'dissident' working against the prevailing political consensus."

Mr Bolland said the Prince's campaigning role was constitutionally controversial as the constitution prevents members of the Royal Family from becoming involved or expressing views on political matters.

"This aspect of the Prince's role has been created by him and has not, so far as I am aware, been endorsed either by the Queen or by Parliament."

He said it became a subject of "discussion and controversy" during his time with the Prince and different approaches had been taken to "this thorny issue" by successive private secretaries.

When Sir Stephen Lamport took over as private secretary, Mr Bolland said they tried to "dampen down" the Prince's tendency to make public his views.

The statement continued: "We felt this was an essential part of preparing the Prince to become King in the future as we could see how much controversy his public expression of his views on various subjects, such as GM foods and the built environment, to name but two, was creating and because it conflicts with the Monarch's constitutional role."

Mr Bolland said he knew that politicians were also concerned about the way the Prince expressed himself because they would contact him.

The Prince is asking Mr Justice Blackburne to rule that The Mail on Sunday breached his confidentiality and copyright when it published extracts from a journal in which he referred to Chinese diplomats as "appalling old waxworks".

This was from a diary he called The Handover of Hong Kong - or The Great Chinese Takeaway.

He also wants seven other diaries copied by a "disloyal former employee" returned.

Mark Warby QC, representing the Mail on Sunday, told the judge that the confidentiality laws which protect private lives cannot apply in this case.

The hearing continues.