Newspaper drops case for prince's diaries

LONDON, May 21 (UPI) -- A British newspaper Monday decided not to pursue the legal right to publish travel journals kept by Prince Charles.

However, the Mail on Sunday said it would continue its appeal to the House of Lords about its publication from another of the prince's diaries describing the handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997, the Guardian reported Monday.

In December a court of appeals ruled the prince's claim to privacy was "overwhelming" in rejecting the Mail on Sunday's effort to have the issue heard in court. The ruling said even though the diaries were sent to several dozen people, the prince retained the copyright and his right to confidentiality.

The Mail on Sunday has argued it acted in the public interest by publishing the Hong Kong diary excerpts because they included political beliefs of Britain's future head-of-state.

In the journal, "The handover of Hong Kong or the Great Chinese Takeaway," the Prince of Wales criticized the "awful Soviet-style display" of Chinese soldiers during the ceremony and called Chinese leaders "appalling old waxworks."