According to reports, Prince Charles personally worked to get a £1m donation from the family of 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden for his charity.
Charles, 73, met Saudi patriarch Bakr bin Laden and his brother Shafiq at Clarence House in London in October. 30, 2013, to mediate payment, According to the Sunday Times of London.
Those men are Osama bin Laden’s half-brothers, and the meeting took place two years after the terrorist was killed by US special forces in Pakistan.
The newspaper reports that the future king agreed to the donation despite the objections of his advisers at Clarence House, the prince’s London residence. The Prince of Wales Charitable Foundationsaid that at least one of the trustees of the organization begged him to return the money.
Advisers told him that if word of the operation leaked, it would cause national outrage and damage his reputation.
“The fact that the most senior member of the British establishment chose to do business with a name and family has not only raised alarm bells, it has caused utter horror around the world. . . why would you do that What good reason is there to do this?” A source told the newspaper about this.
Charles was said to have felt it would be too embarrassing to return the money to the Bin Laden brothers, who are believed to have had no involvement in any terrorist acts.
Sir Ian Cheshire, chairman of the Prince of Wales Charitable Trust, told STOL that the donation had been agreed “as a whole” by the organisation’s five trustees.
“Sheikh Bakr Bin Laden’s donation in 2013 was carefully considered by the PWCF Trustees at the time. Due diligence was conducted by seeking information from a wide range of sources, including the government. The decision to accept the donation was made entirely by the trustees. Any attempt to suggest otherwise is misleading and inaccurate,” Chesire told the newspaper.
A spokesman for Clarence House said the charity had “assured us that thorough checks were carried out to accept this donation. The decision to accept was made solely by the charity and any attempt to characterize it otherwise is a lie.”
Charles was reported to have received others questionable donations from the controversial Qatari politician to charity from 2011 to 2015 with cash in luggage, suitcases and several branded shopping bags from the famous department store Fortnum & Mason.
The revelations caused royal source to say that donations are no longer accepted in this manner.
