The U.K. police have launched an investigation into cash-for-honors allegations linked to Prince Charles’ charity.
The investigation by Scotland Yard into the Prince Foundation comes after reports that offers of financial help were made to secure honors as well as citizenship for a Saudi national.
The Metropolitan Police were contacted in September 2021 by the anti-monarchy pressure group Republic, which reported both Prince Charles and his former royal valet, Michael Fawcett, on suspicion of breaching the Honours Act 1925, also known as the Prevention of Abuses Act. In September, Clarence House said that the royal had “no knowledge” of the alleged cash-for-honors scandal.
Fawcett has since resigned as the chief executive of the charity. He stepped down in October amid claims that he promised to help secure a knighthood, as well as British citizenship, for a Saudi billionaire who donated tons to the Prince’s Foundation.
Saudi billionaire Dr. Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz allegedly paid thousands of pounds to ‘fixers’ with links to Prince Charles who said they could secure the honors and citizenship for him. Dr. Mahfouz received a CBE during a private ceremony at Clarence House in 2016.
A letter emerged from Fawcett to Dr. Mahfouz from 2017, in which Fawcett said that the Prince’s Foundation would be ‘happy and willing’ to use influence to help him gain citizenship., as well as to increase his honor from Honorary CBE to KBE.
In a statement, Scotland Yard said that the police have launched an investigation and that the decision follows the assessment of the letter from September.
Prince Charles is the president of the foundation but is not involved with its governance. The trustees of the charity oversee the actual day-to-day activities.
Clarence House, which is a British royal residence and is the official London residence of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, reiterated its previous statement this week. It said that the Prince has no knowledge of this alleged offer of honors or of citizenship on the basis of donation to charities.
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