Prince Charles to cut charity fundraising and focus on supporting the Queen

PRINCE Charles is to cut his charity fundraising and focus increasingly on supporting the Queen after a series of scandals over historic donations.

Charles is expected to formally sever or further loosen his ties with his remaining charities

The heir to the throne, who was facing fresh controversy after it emerged that he received £1 million from the family of Osama Bin Laden in 2013, has reduced the amount of time he spends on his charities since 2018 and intends a further cutback as he increasingly concentrates on standing in for his mother in her head of state duties.

Charles, regularly hailed by his aides as one of Britain’s most successful philanthropists, is expected to formally sever or at least further loosen his ties with his remaining charities when he becomes King, the Daily Express understands. A review of his charities in 2018 streamlined their operations and lowered fundraising expectations.

The Prince, 73, has been rocked by mounting criticism of his judgment after a lengthening list of revelations about the way he and his charities behaved when they were bringing in huge sums of cash in the last decade.

It was claimed that he ignored warnings from his advisers at Clarence House and the Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund that accepting £1 million from Bakr Bin Laden, the patriarch of the wealthy Saudi family, and his brother Shafiq, would cause national outrage because their half-brother is the late founder of Al Qaeda and mastermind of the September 11 attacks, who was killed by US special forces at his hideaway in Pakistan in May 2011. 

Staff feared it would undermine Charles and the charity if it ever came out, according to sources cited by The Sunday Times. It quoted one source saying: “The fact that a member of the highest level of the British Establishment was choosing to broker deals with a name and a family that not only rang alarm bells but abject horror around the world...why would you do this? What good reason is there to do this”

“I just didn’t feel any member of the British Royal Family should be involved in that sort of undertaking.”

The Bin Ladens, who made their money from construction, were known as the Rockefellers of Saudi Arabia. Osama had 52 siblings and Bakr and most of the rest of the family disowned him in 1994 when he refused to renounce Islamist violence.

But their family name remained a potential problem for anyone in the West. In 2017 Bakr was detained as part of a purge of Saudi Arabia’s elite in a crackdown on alleged corruption. He was released last year.

There was astonishment that Charles received such a large donation from the family. Royal biographer Angela Levin, who has written a book about the Duchess of Cornwall and received close cooperation from Camilla and Clarence House, called it a misjudgement by Charles.

“It is serious for him because there is so much chaos within the family at the moment, of people being nasty and making accusations,” she said. “It leaves a stain.”

However, Clarence House disputed many of the claims and Sir Ian Cheshire, chairman of PWCF, said the donation was agreed “wholly” by the five trustees at the time.

In a statement, Clarence House said: “The Prince of Wales’s 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.”

Sir Ian said: “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.”

Sources close to Charles have sought to stress that the Prince and his charities have changed their approach since the 2010s. After an earlier story about Charles receiving £2.58 million in cash from a Qatari sheikh, one insisted it would not happen now. “That was then; this is now,” the source said.

In the most series case so far, the Metropolitan Police is investigating claims that a senior aide at another of Charles’s charitable vehicles, The Prince’s Foundation, offered to secure a knighthood and British citizenship for a Saudi billionaire in return for donations.

The Prince said he was available to deal with any questions the police had but it is understood that the Met have not questioned him so far.

Clarence House has insisted he had no knowledge of the alleged cash-for-honours scandal.