Prince
Charles
, heir to the British throne, accepted a million euros contained in a suitcase from Qatari Sheikh
Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani
, among other cash donations that the former Arab prime minister made for his charities,
The Sunday Times
publishes .
According to the newspaper,
between 2011 and 2015, Carlos received three lots in cash
worth 3 million euros from
Al Thani
, who was Prime Minister of Qatar between 2007 and 2013 and Foreign Minister from 1992 to 2013.
On one of those occasions, the 62-year-old Sheikh gave the prince a million euros allegedly
distributed in bags from the London luxury store Fortnum & Mason
.
In another, the heir accepted a travel bag for the same amount during
a private meeting at his Clarence House residence
, says the
Sunday Times
.
A palace spokesman told the newspaper last night that the money "
was immediately passed on to one of the prince's charities
, which applied the expected governance procedures and assured us that the correct processes were followed."
The Sunday Times
explains that, after receiving the suitcase,
Carlos
gave it to two advisers who "counted the money by hand",
supposedly €500 bills
.
The assistants then asked the
Coutts bank
, which deals with the monarchy's assets, to collect the suitcase.
The bank then deposited the money into the accounts of
the Prince of Wales Charitable Fund
(PWCF), which distributes grants to the prince's projects and to his estate in Scotland.
The newspaper notes that the heir's meetings with the sheikh
do not appear in the Court Circular
, the list of official commitments made by members of royalty.
He also points out that the rules on royal gifts state that the royal family can accept checks on behalf of a charity, but say nothing about cash.
PWCF chairman
Ian Cheshire
confirmed to the newspaper that the briefcase donation was approved by the board at the time.
"With just a few hours' notice, we have verified this past event and confirmed that
the previous trustees reviewed the
donor's governance and relationship (confirmed it was a legitimate and verified counterparty), and our auditors signed off on the donation," he stated. .
A Coutts
spokeswoman
said they have "robust policies and controls" to "assess the source, nature and purpose of large and unusual transactions" and noted that, in particular, the receipt of cash payments is subject to "supervision." thorough".
The Sunday Times
clarifies that there is no indication that an illegality has been committed, but points out that the cash donations will increase doubts about the management of the charities of
Prince Charles
, who has assumed more royal functions due to the advanced age of his mother,
Elizabeth II
.
Police have been investigating since February allegations that the prince's closest aide,
Michael Fawcett
, promised titles and citizenship to a Saudi millionaire in exchange for charitable donations, something Charles said he was unaware of.
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