Charles’s ‘spider letters’: The Guardian falls for the pseudoscience of graphology

The Prince of Wales’s ‘spider letters’ are out today – his letters to government ministers written or annotated in his distinctive spidery hand (see above) have been released under the Freedom of Information Act. Hat tip to James Snell on Twitter for alerting me to this utter garbage from the Guardian’s liveblog:

What can we tell about Charles’ personality from the small amount of handwritten annotations in the black spider memos?

Actually, quite a lot, according to the chairman of the British Institute of Graphologists. Charles’ fluid strokes, joined-up words and slight slant to the left reveal interesting things about his personality and how he will approach his kingship.

Adam Brand told the Guardian that the pressure on the up-and-down strokes is even, meaning Charles has a creative side and a “love of colour”.

In the introductions to the letters, Charles joins up all the words in his sentences. “He’s very connected, it’s quite unusual to see, it shows he’s a very logical thinker with an excellent brain,” Brand said.