Prince Charles’ charity accepted £1million from Bin Laden family
- The heir to the British throne, accepted the donation to his charitable trust from the family of 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden
- The revelation increases scrutiny on the 73-year-old prince’s charity organisations, which have been rocked by allegations of criminal wrongdoing
Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, accepted a £1 million (US$1.19 million) donation to his charitable trust from the family of 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden, The Sunday Times reported.
Although there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by the Saudi family members, the revelation increases scrutiny on the 73-year-old prince’s charity organisations, which have been rocked by allegations of criminal wrongdoing.
Several of his advisers urged Charles not to take the donation from family patriarch Bakr bin Laden and his brother Shafiq – half-brothers of terror leader Osama – according to sources cited by the paper.
Charles, 73, agreed to the donation to the Prince of Wales Charitable Fund (PWCF) when he met with Bakr, 76, at Clarence House in London in 2013, despite objections of advisers from the trust and his office, the paper reported.
Ian Cheshire, chairman of PWCF, said the donation was agreed by the five trustees at the time.
British police in February launched an investigation into another of Charles’s charitable foundations over claims of a cash-for-honours scandal involving a Saudi businessman.
