The Prince of Wales Charity has accepted donations from the family of Osama bin Laden | UK News
The Prince of Wales Charitable Foundation accepted a grant from the family of Osama bin Laden in 2013, it appeared.
According to The Sunday Times, Prince Charles met Bakr, the half-brother of the al Qaeda founder in London – and is said to have agreed to a £1 million payment.
The report claims that some of the closest senior advisers to the royal family have urged Charles to return the money.
Clarence House has denied that Prince Charles was personally involved, telling Sky News: “The Prince of Wales Charity Foundation has assured us that thorough due diligence has been carried out in accepting the payment. this donation.
“The decision to accept was made by the trustees of the charity alone and any attempt to characterize it is false.”
Meanwhile, the Prince of Wales Charity added: “The donation from Sheik Bakr bin Laden in 2013 was carefully considered by the PWCF trustees at the time.
“A due diligence process was underway, with information sought from multiple sources, including government. The decision to accept the donation was made entirely by the trustees. Any other proposed attempts are both misleading and inaccurate.”
Osama bin Laden was behind the September 11, 2001, attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in the US.
The Sunday Times reported that Charles’ meeting with Bakr, the patriarch of a wealthy Saudi family, took place two years after Osama bin Laden was killed by US special forces in Pakistan.
The newspaper reported that the donation was accepted despite objections from advisers – one of whom said having the money “wouldn’t do anyone any good”.
The Prince of Wales Charitable Foundation was established in 1979 and grants grants to UK-registered nonprofits for projects in the UK, Commonwealth and other countries. other family.
This is not the first time PWCF’s activities have come under scrutiny.
Earlier this year, The Sunday Times reported that Prince Charles had received a suitcase full of cash as a charitable donation from the former prime minister of Qatar.
The backpack with a total value of 3 million euros was handed to the prince by Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani from 2011 to 2015.
The palace has not denied that on one occasion he gave the prince 1 million euros that is said to have been put in a shipping bag from Fortnum & Mason, the luxury grocer with a royal charter that supplies groceries. for Royal.
Clarence House insisted all correct procedures were followed for donations – and a senior palace source later said Prince Charles had received bags of cash for his charity. me “won’t happen again”.
Early July, Charity Committee speak they will take no further action on that donation – adding that they are “not interested” in the management of the prince’s charity and that the trustees submitted the information via an incident report. serious attempt.
It was not suggested that the payments were illegal, but the anti-monarchy advocacy group Republic said it had written to the Charity Commission asking for an investigation.
