Future King of England Prince Charles accepted £1m donation from family of Osama bin Laden, report claims!

Future king allegedly accepted donation for his charity in 2013 but Clarence House disputes the claims

       Prince Charles reportedly held a               private meeting with Bakr bin Laden         at Clarence House in October 2013.

            Saturday 30th July, 2022. 

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.

             I'm a Citizen Not a Subject 

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”.

With many thanks to: The Guardian (UK edition) and Nadeem Badshah for the original publication. 

Follow these links to find out more on this story: #Abolishthemonarchy trends as Prince Charles ‘accepted £1m from family of Osama bin Laden’

Bin Laden family's £1m puts Prince Charles and Charity Commission in the spotlight

Republic erect anti-monarchy billboards across Great Britain.

Prince Charles accepted £1m from family of Osama bin Laden report claim

Republic erect anti-monarchy billboards across Great Britain.

A series of anti-monarchy billboards have been described as "offensive" ahead of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.

                 31st May, 2022. 

    The Billboards have appeared across            the country including in Reading. 

Reading-based campaign group Republic raised £43,000 through crowdfunding to print and display the posters with the slogan "Make Elizabeth the Last".

Its chief executive, Graham Smith, said it is "absolutely the right time to raise the issue and get people debating the future of the monarchy".

But Reading councillor Clarence Mitchell said it was "disgraceful".

Republic said on its website the first tranche of billboards would go up in Reading, Manchester, Bournemouth, Birmingham, Dundee, Leeds, Glasgow, Newcastle and Bristol.

Mr Smith told the BBC: "Seventy years of one person being head of state is not a great idea.

"It's not healthy for a democracy and this is also probably the last major event of the Queen's reign and we need to start thinking about what's going to happen next."

Republic's Graham Smith said he believes the timing is right to debate the future of the monarchy 

The latest figures from YouGov, which tracks public opinion, show 61% of people in the UK support having a monarch, while 24% would prefer to have an elected head of state.

There has been a change in opinion over the last few years among 18 to 24-year-olds.

In 2019, 46% of that age group were in favour of having a king or queen and 31% wanted to have an elected figurehead.

By 2021, 31% supported the monarchy while 41% wanted to be able to vote for a head of state.

Mr Mitchell said the timing of Republic's stunt "is as disgraceful as it is distasteful and sadly it's tediously predictable".

He added: "In a democracy, under a constitutional monarchy, Republic can make all the arguments they want and they have every right to do that.

"But this sort of stunt, offensive as it is, is going to alienate far more people than it brings towards their cause."

With many thanks to: BBC News for the original story.