Prince Charles’s Charity Accepted Millions From Family
of Osama bin Laden
Clarence House confirmed that the terrorist’s brothers
donated money to the royal charity, but denied reports that the prince had
personally brokered the deal or made the decision to accept it.
Prince Charles previously admitted to personally
accepting $3.1 million in cash from a Qatari billionaire, some of which was
delivered in a suitcase.
Stephen
Castle
By Stephen
Castle
July 30,
2022
LONDON —
Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, faced new scrutiny over the
financing of his charities on Saturday after a report found that one
organization had accepted a donation of 1 million pounds ($1.21 million) from
the family of Osama bin Laden.
As first
reported by The Sunday Times of London, The Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund
received the donation in 2013 from the brothers Bakr and Shafiq bin Laden, half
brothers of Osama bin Laden, the founder of Al Qaeda and architect of the Sept.
11 attacks.
News of the
payment follows a series of recent royal scandals, including a report in June
that Prince Charles had accepted $3.1 million in cash donations from a Qatari
billionaire between 2011 and 2015, some of which was received personally in a
suitcase and shopping bags.
The bin
Ladens are a powerful Saudi family, whose multinational construction business
and close ties to the Saudi royal family have made them extremely wealthy.
There is, however, no suggestion that either Bakr or Shafiq bin Laden has
sponsored, supported or been involved in any acts of terrorism. And the family
disowned Osama bin Laden in 1994 when Saudi Arabia stripped him of his
citizenship because of his extremist activities.
On
Saturday, Clarence House, the prince’s official office and residence, confirmed
that the bin Laden brothers had given the money to the royal charity but
disputed reports that Prince Charles had brokered the deal or made the decision
personally to accept it.
“The Prince
of Wales’ Charitable Fund has assured us that thorough due diligence was
undertaken in accepting this donation,” read a statement released by Clarence
House.
“The decision to accept was taken by the charity’s
trustees alone and any attempt to characterize it otherwise is false,” the
statement added.
But The
Sunday Times reported that Prince Charles had brokered the payment after a
private meeting with Bakr bin Laden at Clarence House in London on October 30,
2013, two years after Osama bin Laden was killed in Pakistan.
The paper
also reported that the heir to the throne had agreed to accept the donation
despite the vocal objections of his own advisers.
A royal
official, unauthorized to speak publicly, denied that the prince accepted the donation,
negotiated the deal or was advised to return the money.
The Sunday
Times reported that some of the prince’s aides had warned Charles of the
inevitable blowback should it become known that his charity had accepted money
from the family of the man who orchestrated the terrorist attacks that killed
nearly 3,000 people, including 67 Britons.
Founded in
1979, The Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund says that its mission is “to
transform lives and build sustainable communities by awarding grants to a wide
range of good causes within our core funding themes: heritage and conservation,
education, health and well-being, social inclusion, environment and
countryside.”
Stephen
Castle is London correspondent, writing widely about Britain, including the
country’s politics and relationship with Europe. @_StephenCastle •
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Prince Charles accepted £1m from family of Osama bin Laden, report claims
Future king allegedly accepted donation for his
charity in 2013 but Clarence House disputes the claims
.jpg)
Nadeem
Badshah
Sat 30 Jul
2022 21.19 BST
The Prince
of Wales received a £1m donation for his charity from relatives of Osama bin
Laden, according to a report.
The Sunday
Times alleged that the future king accepted the payment from Bakr bin Laden,
the patriarch of the Saudi family, and his brother Shafiq.
Prince
Charles, 73, is said to have held a private meeting with Bakr, 76, at Clarence
House in London on 30 October 2013, two years after Osama bin Laden was shot
dead by US special forces at a compound near Islamabad in Pakistan, according
to the newspaper.
Clarence
House strongly disputes many of the claims, saying the decision to accept the
donation to his charity, the Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund (PWCF), was
taken solely by trustees.
Bakr and
Shafiq bin Laden are half-brothers of Osama, related to the founder of al-Qaida
through their father Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden, a Yemeni-born billionaire.
There is no
suggestion that Bakr or Shafiq bin Laden has sponsored or been involved in acts
of terrorism.
Sir Ian
Cheshire, chairman of the Prince of Wales Charitable Foundation (PWCF), where
the money was deposited, said in a statement: “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.”
A source
close to the charity said after a thorough examination of the issues, the
trustees concluded that the actions of one bin Laden family member should not
tarnish the whole family.
A Clarence
House spokesperson said: “The Prince of Wales’ 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.”
A source
disputed suggestions that Charles had personally brokered the deal, had agreed
to the donations despite advisers’ objections and that several advisers pleaded
with him in person to return the money.
The source
also denied that the prince was urged to return the money and was told the sum
“would not be good for anybody”.
It comes a
month after it emerged that the Prince of Wales accepted bags containing
millions of euros in cash during meetings with the former prime minister of
Qatar.
Last week,
the Charity Commission said it would take no further action over the reports
that Charles was given a total of €3m (£2.6m) during meetings with Sheikh Hamad
bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani.
The Sunday
Times reported that the cash was handed to the Prince of Wales in a suitcase on
one occasion, a holdall on another, as well as in Fortnum & Mason carrier
bags, the upmarket department store which holds a royal warrant to supply the
prince’s household with groceries.
The
handovers were alleged to have occurred during meetings between the two men,
including a private one-to-one meeting at Clarence House in 2015.
Each
payment was deposited into the accounts of the PWCF and there is no suggestion
the payments were illegal.
A Clarence
House spokesperson said in June the money given during the 2015 meeting was
“passed immediately to one of the prince’s charities who carried out the
appropriate covenants and assured us that all the correct processes were
followed”.
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