Clarence House Pushes Back On Prince Charles And Osama Bin Laden Rumors

Prince Charles is under fire, again, and yes, it’s for accepting money from a donor for one of his charities. The last time he came under fire was for accepting a large sum of money from a donor in a bag, which Clarence House confirmed won’t be repeated.

“Due Diligence Was Undertaken”, Clarence House Says

According to a recent report by media outlets, the Prince of Wales accepted a £1 million from a member of Osama bin Laden’s family. The Sunday Times revealed that Charles secured the money from Bakr bin Laden, the patriarch of the rich Saudi family, and his brother Shafiq, who are both half-brothers of the late Al-Qaeda leader.

However, Clarence House disputed the claims that Charles was personally involved with the exchange. The statement by Charles’ charity explained that the decision to accept the donation to his charity, the Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund (PWCF), was taken solely by trustees.

The report went on to disclose the fact that Charles, 73, met with Bakr, 76, at Clarence House in London on October 30, 2013, two years after Osama bin Laden was gunned down by US special forces in Pakistan.

According to the newspaper, Charles went ahead and agreed to the donations even though Clarence House and the PWCF, where the money was paid into, objected.

Several advisers were also said to have personally pleaded with him, with one of them telling him that accepting the donations from the hated family “would not be good for anybody”. The Chairman of PWCF, Sir Ian Cheshire, would go on to disprove this claim by saying that all five trustees of PWCF agreed “wholly“ to the receipt of the donations.

Founded in 1979, PWCF is on a mission to transform lives and build sustainable communities awards grants to UK-registered non-profit organisations to deliver projects in the UK, Commonwealth and overseas.

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.”

A Blast From the Past: What Happened Between Prince Charles and Osama bin Laden’s Half-brother

At the time, per reports by the Sunday Times, Charles shouted down an adviser trying to warn him against taking money from a family famous for its relations with an infamous terrorist.

However, Sir Ian countered the argument, saying: “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.”

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