According to The Sunday Times, Osama bin Laden’s family sent Prince Charles, the heir to the British monarchy, a donation of £1 million ($1.19 million, 1.21 million euros) for his charitable trust.
The revelation puts the 73-year-old prince’s charitable organizations, which have been shaken by accusations of criminal activity, under more scrutiny even though there is no indication that any of the Saudi family members have committed any wrongdoing.
According to sources quoted by the newspaper, a number of Charles’ advisors advised him not to accept the donation from the family patriarch Bakr bin Laden and his brother Shafiq, who are the half-brothers of terror leader Osama.
Despite the reservations of advisors from the trust and his office, Charles, 73, consented to the donation to the Prince of Wales Charitable Fund (PWCF) when he met with Bakr, 76, at Clarence House in London in 2013, according to the newspaper.
The donation was approved at the time by the five trustees, according to PWCF Chairman Ian Cheshire.
In February, British police opened an inquiry into one of Charles’s philanthropic organizations amid allegations of a cash-for-honors scandal involving a Saudi billionaire.
Following an internal examination into the claims, the director of The Prince’s Foundation resigned last year.
The foundation’s chief executive, Michael Fawcett, had first consented to step down from his position as a result of newspaper reports concerning his associations with a Saudi national.
The man, business billionaire Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz, had made large donations to restoration initiatives that Charles found particularly interesting.
The Prince’s Foundation, founded in 1986, is registered with the Scottish Charity Regulator but is not subject to regulation by the Charities Commission.
