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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