Prince Charles reportedly accepted R16 million from the family of Osama bin Laden. Image: Patrick T Fallon / AFP
Report claims Prince Charles ‘accepted’ donation from Bin Laden family
The future king of England, Prince Charles, reportedly accepted R16 million from the family of Osama bin Laden for his charity, PWCF.
Prince Charles reportedly accepted R16 million from the family of Osama bin Laden. Image: Patrick T Fallon / AFP
Prince Charles allegedly accepted a £1 million (R16 million) donation from the family of Osama bin Laden, according to a report by The Sunday Times on Saturday 30 July.
PRINCE CHARLES: R16M DONATION FROM BIN LADEN’S FAMILY
The Sunday Times reported that Prince Charles reportedly accepted the donation from Bakr bin Laden – the patriarch of the Saudi family, and his brother Shafiq. Bakr and Shafiq are Osama bin Laden’s half-brothers.
Osama was the founder of al-Qaeda, which was identified as a terrorist group by the United Nations Security Council and others. However, there is no suggestion that Bakr or Shafiq sponsored or have been involved in acts of terrorism.
The Prince of Wales, who is the future king of England, is believed to have held a private meeting with Bakr. The meeting was reportedly held at Clarence House in London on 30 October 2013.
Osama bin Laden was shot dead by the US special forces two years prior to the alleged meeting.
The Guardian reports that Clarence House disputes the claims, stating that the decision to accept the donation to the charity – Prince of Wale’s Charitable Fund (PWCF) — was solely taken by the trustees.
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TRUSTEES ALLEGEDLY ACCEPTED DONATION
PWCF chairperson Sir Ian Cheshire said that the decision to accept the donation was taken by the trustees.
“The donation from Sheik Bakr bin Laden in 2013 was carefully considered by PWCF trustees at the time,” said Cheshire, according to The Guardian.
“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,” Cheshire continued.
Prince Charles and those ‘bags of cash’ claims
These latest controversial claims follows recent reports of Prince Charles accepting “bags containing millions of euros in cash” during meetings with the former prime minister of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Jasseim bin Jaber Al Thani emerged.
The Sunday Times reports that Prince Charles accepted almost $3 million (R49 million) in cash. This was also a donation to PWCF.
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