Prince Charles. Photo: Andrew Milligan/PA
Hannah Furness in London
August 01 2022
A charitable fund set up by Prince Charles accepted £1m (€1.2m) from the half-brothers of Osama bin Laden, believing that the actions of the former al-Qa’ida leader should not tarnish the whole family name, it is claimed.
The charity accepted the payment from Bakr bin Laden, the patriarch of the wealthy Saudi family, and his brother Shafiq, who are both half-brothers of Osama bin Laden.
The prince is known to have met with Bakr (76) at the royal’s private residence in London on October 30, 2013, two years after Osama bin Laden was killed by US special forces in Pakistan.
Clarence House, the prince’s private office, has insisted that the decision to accept the money was made by the “charity’s trustees alone” with the Prince of Wales Charitable Fund (PWCF) also seeking to put distance between the charity and its royal namesake.
A source close to the charity yesterday said that, after thorough examination of the issues at the time of the donation, trustees had concluded that the actions of one bin Laden should not tarnish the whole family.
The palace has disputed claims made by The Sunday Times that Charles had personally brokered the donation, ignoring the strong feelings of staff who advised against it.
Sources told the newspaper that several of the prince’s advisers, including at least one PWCF trustee, “pleaded with him in person to return the money”, with one member of staff saying it would cause national outrage if the news leaked to the media.
Another is said to have told the prince he would suffer serious reputational damage if his name was linked with Osama bin Laden, the al-Qa’ida terrorist responsible for the 9/11 attack in which nearly 3,000 people, including 67 Britons, were killed.
A spokesman for Clarence House said: “The Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund has assured us that thorough due diligence was undertaken in accepting this donation.
“The decision to accept was taken by the charity’s trustees alone and any attempt to characterise it otherwise is false.”
Ian Cheshire, chairman of PWCF, said: “The donation from Sheik Bakr bin Laden in 2013 was carefully considered by PWCF trustees at the time.
“Due diligence was conducted, with information sought from a wide range of sources, including government. The decision to accept the donation was taken wholly by the trustees. Any attempt to suggest otherwise is misleading and inaccurate.”
The trustees have since changed to an entirely new board, with the prince’s charities slimmed down in recent years. The charity, which was founded in 1979 with a mission to transform lives and build sustainable communities, awards grants to UK-registered non-profit organisations to deliver projects in the UK, Commonwealth and overseas.
It no longer has a significant active fundraising programme, instead deciding which good causes to spend Duchy of Cornwall money on.
It is the latest scandal for the Prince of Wales and his charities, coming just a month after it emerged that he had accepted a suitcase of cash during a meeting with former prime minister of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani. The cash contributed to donations to PWCF amounting to around £2.6m (€3.1m).
Last week, the Charity Commission said it would take no further action over the reports. (© Telegraph Media Group Ltd 2022)
Hannah Furness in London
August 01 2022
A charitable fund set up by Prince Charles accepted £1m (€1.2m) from the half-brothers of Osama bin Laden, believing that the actions of the former al-Qa’ida leader should not tarnish the whole family name, it is claimed.
The charity accepted the payment from Bakr bin Laden, the patriarch of the wealthy Saudi family, and his brother Shafiq, who are both half-brothers of Osama bin Laden.
The prince is known to have met with Bakr (76) at the royal’s private residence in London on October 30, 2013, two years after Osama bin Laden was killed by US special forces in Pakistan.
Clarence House, the prince’s private office, has insisted that the decision to accept the money was made by the “charity’s trustees alone” with the Prince of Wales Charitable Fund (PWCF) also seeking to put distance between the charity and its royal namesake.
A source close to the charity yesterday said that, after thorough examination of the issues at the time of the donation, trustees had concluded that the actions of one bin Laden should not tarnish the whole family.
The palace has disputed claims made by The Sunday Times that Charles had personally brokered the donation, ignoring the strong feelings of staff who advised against it.
Sources told the newspaper that several of the prince’s advisers, including at least one PWCF trustee, “pleaded with him in person to return the money”, with one member of staff saying it would cause national outrage if the news leaked to the media.
Another is said to have told the prince he would suffer serious reputational damage if his name was linked with Osama bin Laden, the al-Qa’ida terrorist responsible for the 9/11 attack in which nearly 3,000 people, including 67 Britons, were killed.
A spokesman for Clarence House said: “The Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund has assured us that thorough due diligence was undertaken in accepting this donation.
“The decision to accept was taken by the charity’s trustees alone and any attempt to characterise it otherwise is false.”
Ian Cheshire, chairman of PWCF, said: “The donation from Sheik Bakr bin Laden in 2013 was carefully considered by PWCF trustees at the time.
“Due diligence was conducted, with information sought from a wide range of sources, including government. The decision to accept the donation was taken wholly by the trustees. Any attempt to suggest otherwise is misleading and inaccurate.”
The trustees have since changed to an entirely new board, with the prince’s charities slimmed down in recent years. The charity, which was founded in 1979 with a mission to transform lives and build sustainable communities, awards grants to UK-registered non-profit organisations to deliver projects in the UK, Commonwealth and overseas.
It no longer has a significant active fundraising programme, instead deciding which good causes to spend Duchy of Cornwall money on.
It is the latest scandal for the Prince of Wales and his charities, coming just a month after it emerged that he had accepted a suitcase of cash during a meeting with former prime minister of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani. The cash contributed to donations to PWCF amounting to around £2.6m (€3.1m).
Last week, the Charity Commission said it would take no further action over the reports. (© Telegraph Media Group Ltd 2022)
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