Campaigners have called on King Charles to open up the royal archives to allow the truth to come out about Louis Mountbatten, who has been accused of child abuse offences.

The earl, who died in 1979, has been accused of serious offences in a court in Ireland.

Speaking for Republic, Graham Smith said today:

"Mountbatten was a mentor and confidante to Charles, a close relative of the Queen and Philip and served at the highest levels of Britain's armed forces. It is inconceivable the most senior royals knew nothing about these allegations."

"The royal archives, despite containing thousands of official documents, are locked away in a family vault in Windsor."

"Charles owes it to the alleged victims of these crimes and to the pursuit of openness and justice to make all archives fully available, so that the truth about Mountbatten's conduct can be fully established."

"For years the palace has fought attempts to open their archives, this obsession with secrecy must stop. If Charles is serious about modernising, he can start with openning up royal archives in full."