Independent scores success in three-year FOI battle for Queen's correspondence

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Secret correspondence between the government and Buckingham Palace will be released following a three-year freedom of information (FOI) campaign by the Independent.

The Information Commissioner has ruled in favour of the paper and said the government must disclose more than 100 letters and memos written by ministers and members of the Royal Household, which were sent during negotiations over public subsidies paid to the Queen for the upkeep of her palaces. In the Independent's report on the ruling , deputy commissioner Graham Smith says the public interest in releasing the correspondence overrides the Royal Family's right to protection under the FOI Act.

By withholding the information the Department for Culture, Media and Sport would be in breach of the act, which was introduced in 2000 and gives the public a general right of access to information held by public authorities , he says.

But this is not the end of the FOI fight for the paper, Robert Verkaik, home affairs editor, told Journalism.co.uk.

"While we are pleased with the first breakthrough in our campaign to secure information about how public money is being spent on the Royals, the battle is by no means won. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport still has a month [35 days] to decide whether to comply with the Information Commissioner's ruling and release 100 letters and other documents relating to the grants paid to the Queen," he said.

Verkaik said he fears the government to "go to the wire" before deciding to appeal the decision with the Information Tribunal.

"The initial ruling may have set an important precedent for other requests for information about the Royal Family and so they are unlikely to go down without a fight. I hope I am proved wrong," he said.