Muslim protests, topless royal photos and Cameron's leadership Gregory Shenkman, London W8 SIR - America and Britain should respond to the rioting throughout the Muslim world by declaring that free speech is integral to liberal democratic society, and that Islam must come to terms with this. The two countries" disastrous foreign policies, however, are causing such harm in the Muslim world that they do not have the moral status to do so. Those policies are characterised by an arrogance, ignorance, naivety and disregard of consequences that one expects to find in a school debate, not the statesmanship of great nations. To begin to regain moral status, America and Britain must stop meddling in issues that they do not adequately understand and, as they are once again finding out, cannot possibly control. David Campbell, Leeds SIR - Days after his return to Afghanistan, Prince Harry's base, Camp Bastion, has been attacked leaving two soldiers dead. When the Prince first went to Afghanistan there was a news blackout and he served for several months before foreign media blew his cover and he returned home. His mission was kept secret so that neither the Prince nor his colleagues were endangered. Why then was Prince Harry's second visit to Helmand widely reported when the Taliban has quite openly revealed plans to kill or injure him? The cynic in me says that it was done to restore his tarnished image after his exploits in Las Vegas. Kate Graeme-Cook, Blandford Forum, Dorset SIR - Why is political Islamism so aggressively and violent? Such behaviour suggests an intellectual and theological defensiveness that has no place in a modern, civilised world; especially when some Muslims regularly insult adherents to other faiths and belief systems, and regularly commit acts of terror against them. When will political Islamists extend to others the tolerance they demand - and usually receive - for themselves? J.A. Bosworth, Cugy (FR), Switzerland Cameron's leadership SIR - A plot to topple David Cameron would be bad for Britain and very bad indeed for the Conservatives (report, Issue 1,104). A power struggle and period of political instability would damage Britain's image abroad and throw the fragile economy with its glimmers of recovery into further turmoil. It would also consign the Conservative Party back to the electoral wilderness. Love him or loathe him, the alternatives to Mr Cameron are even less appealing. A putsch by the yesterday's men leading the Tory Right would leave the Conservatives rudderless and facing the dissolution of the Coalition agreement. A plot to zipwire the populist Boris Johnson into No 10 could also backfire. Mr Cameron could take comfort in the fact that Labour has yet to come up with any big ideas of significance and lacks the momentum that swept Tony Blair into power in 1997. The country may have little appetite for George Osborne's medicine, but it might find Ed Balls even harder to stomach. All this makes it more than likely that David Cameron will remain at the helm until 2015 and may even form a minority Conservative government after the next general election. Anthony Rodriguez, Staines-upon-Thames, Middlesex SIR - Fraser Nelson (Comment, Issue 1,104) suggests Ed Miliband is on course to take power in May 2015. Leaving aside the tendency for governments to lose support in mid-term, only to regain popularity, the next election is more likely to resemble 1955, 1983 or 2001, when first-term governments were re-elected, than the seismic changes of 1945, 1997 or 2010. The electorate is historically inclined to give newly elected administrations the benefit of the doubt when the leadership has demonstrated competence. The exceptions, in 1970 and 1979, followed periods of incompetent Labour government in thrall to the trade unions. The only occasion since 1945 when a first-term Tory government was ousted was February 1974, when Edward Heath used an election as a referendum on his mishandling of industrial relations. Labour's 10-point poll lead is soft, and inflated with many disaffected Liberal Democrats. David Cameron will eventually reap the electoral dividend from having taken unpopular but necessary decisions in the country's long-term interest. Philip Duly, Haslemere, Surrey Royal privacy SIR - Have aides to the Royal family learnt nothing from the media experiences suffered by Princess Margaret, by Diana, Princess of Wales, by Prince Harry and even by Sarah, Duchess of York? The Duchess of Cambridge is naive if she thinks that she can go topless anywhere in the world - unless it is behind closed curtains in her own home. Ron Kirby, Dorchester SIR - Prince William should respond to the recent breach of privacy by employing a photographer to follow and photograph the editor of any magazine who decides to publish the photographs. Then they may understand. Dr A.J. Brownson, Worksop, Nottinghamshire SIR - The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge would do better to spend three days in north Norfolk when they want to do a spot of private sunbathing. There is plenty of choice in the dunes near Holkham, the weather is always beautiful in the first week of September and the local populace would respect their right to a private life. Avril Wright, Snettisham, Norfolk Keep the rich Sir - What an extremely spiteful letter from Alexander Johnston supporting Nick Clegg's idea of a wealth tax (Issue 1,103). Perhaps Mr Johnston doesn't realise that the wealthy already pay a lot of tax and they put a lot of money into the economy. Rather than saying "good riddance" he should hope the rich will stay and not leave and spend their money elsewhere. Linda Brooks, Hillcrest, South Africa Richard III's DNA SIR - It seems that the proof of whether the bones in the Leicester car park are indeed those of King Richard III is to be determined by a DNA comparison with a Canadian descendant (report, Issue 1,104). This seems rather risky, as it assumes that no one in the intervening generations slept on the wrong side of the blanket. I too can claim descent from Richard's elder sister Anne, making him my 15×great uncle, our common ancestor being Richard, Duke of York, who was killed at the Battle of Wakefield in 1460. But I don't suppose either that I can guarantee 100 per cent legitimacy during each of the 17 intervening generations. Might it not make sense to check Richard's DNA with a few more related descendants? There are thousands of us out there. Nigel McCrea, Sudbury, Suffolk