LONDON (Reuters) – Prince Charles would not now accept large sums of cash handed over to him for his charities, a senior royal source said, after a newspaper reported an ex-Qatari prime minister had given him 3 million euros ($3.2 million), some of it in shopping bags.
The Sunday Times said the heir to the British throne had been personally given three lots of cash by Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani between 2011 and 2015.
Charles’s office said the money was handed over to one of his charities who carried out appropriate governance and gave assurances that all the correct processes were followed.
“As we said over the weekend, it was passed immediately to his charities, and it was his charities who decided to accept the money. That is a decision for them. As they’ve confirmed, it followed all the right processes,” the source told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“The Prince of Wales operates on advice. Situations, contexts change over the years. I can say with certainty that for more than half a decade … this has not happened and it would not happen again.”
The Sunday Times said there was no suggestion that the payments were illegal but anti-monarchy campaign group Republic said it had written to Britain’s Charity Commission to demand an investigation.
In November Michael Fawcett, the right-hand man to Prince Charles for decades, stepped down from his role running one of the British royal’s main charities weeks after the Sunday Times said he had offered honours in return for donations.
Police and the Charity Commission are investigating those claims. A spokesman for the prince has previously said that Charles had no knowledge of the alleged offer of honours or citizenship on the basis of donations.
(Reporting by Michael Holden, Editing by Kylie MacLellan)
