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The voice of Scotland’s vibrant voluntary sector

Published by Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations

TFN is published by the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, Mansfield Traquair Centre, 15 Mansfield Place, Edinburgh, EH3 6BB. The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation. Registration number SC003558.

Charity Commission reviewing claims bags of cash handed to Prince Charles

This news post is almost 2 years old
 

It has been suggested The Prince of Wales Charitable Fund accepted around €3million during a four year period.

A foundation created by Prince Charles could face an investigation from the Charity Commission after claims bags of cash donations were handed to the heir to the throne. 

Reports in the Sunday Times claimed that The Prince of Wales Charitable Fund accepted around €3million from the former Prime Minister of Qatar between 2011 and 2015. 

Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani personally handed the cash to Prince Charles during three separate meetings, the newspaper claimed, before the donation was subsequently passed to The Prince of Wales Charitable Fund. 

The charity’s auditors, KPMG, were reportedly aware of the gift after the issue was raised by trustees, but accounts were signed off. 

The Charity Commission has now said it will look again at information it holds on the foundation ahead of any potential investigation. 

PWCF is the fifth charity linked to the Prince of Wales to face regulatory scrutiny since September 2021.

The Charity Commission has previously opened statutory inquiries into the Mahfouz Foundation and Burke’s Peerage Foundation

This is in relation to claims that Saudi billionaire Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz sought access to Prince Charles using donations from his charity. William Bortrick, a trustee at Burke’s Peerage Foundation, has been described as an advisor to Mahfouz.

The Scottish Charity Regulator has an open inquiry into The Prince’s Foundation, which is also subject to a police investigation over cash-for-honours claims

Another charity of which Prince Charles is a patron, Children and the Arts, referred itself to the Charity Commission after being named in media reports about the allegations.

A commission spokesperson said: “We are aware of reports about donations received by PWCF. 

“We will review the information to determine whether there is any role for the commission in this matter.”

PWCF’s Ian Cheshire, its chair of trustees, told The Sunday Times: “There was no failure of governance.”