Royal prerogative
Sir: Mr Chowdharay-Best (Letters, November 14) is not quite right when he states that to allow the monarch to confer a limited number of hereditary peers would mean the involvement of the Crown in party politics. For, at present, all appointments to the Royal Victorian Order are made by the Monarch in her own personal discretion and yet no one suggests that these appointments involve her in party controversy. I say " at present " because no doubt we may shortly expect to see Mr Heath show the same arrogant disregard for constitutional proprieties with regard to this aspect of the Royal Prerogative as he has already shown over the Common Market, over the question of a peerage for Princess Anne's husband, and, as you yourself have pointed out, over the future of the Royal Marriage Act.
John Lee
Prospective Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Handsworth, 2 Dr Johnson's Building, Temple EC4
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