Prince Charles accepted £1m from bin Laden’s family

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That’s what the British newspaper writes Sunday Times. The sum corresponds to almost NOK 12 million.

The money is said to have come from Bakr bin Laden, the patriarch of the wealthy Saudi family, and his brother Shafiq. The two are half-brothers of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who was killed by US special forces in Pakistan in 2011.

Too embarrassing to send the money back

The British heir to the throne is said to have had a private meeting with Bakr at the Clarence House palace in London. He is said to have agreed to the donation despite warnings from advisers, the newspaper writes. The money is said to have been transferred to the Prince of Wales Charitable Foundation (PWCF).

According to the Sunday Times, Charles must have felt that it was too embarrassing to send the money back to the brothers, and he must have feared that they would wonder what the reason was.

Has distanced himself from terrorism and Al-Qaeda

There is nothing to suggest that either Bakr or Shafiq bin Laden has any ties to terrorist activities. They are related to Osama bin Laden through their father, the businessman Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden, who died in a plane crash in 1967. They have repeatedly distanced themselves from terrorism and Al-Qaeda, and broke contact with Osama long before the attack on the United States 11 .September 2001.

Police investigation

According to BBC London police announced earlier this year that they were investigating the prince’s foundations following allegations that one of these had offered a Saudi Arabian money donor help to obtain British citizenship and honorary titles.

The BBC writes that the investigation found that Michael Fawcett, Prince Charles’ personal assistant and managing director of the foundation, coordinated with fixers over an honorary title for British billionaire Mahfouz Marie Mubarak bin Mahfouz. He denies having done anything illegal.

The investigation concluded that there was no evidence that any of the foundation’s directors were aware of the coordination.

November 2021, Fawcett resigned his stilling while the investigation was ongoing.

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