Prince Charles may be under investigation after reports surfaced claiming he had repeatedly accepted suitcases containing large sums of cash from a controversial Middle Eastern politician – Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, the former Prime Minister of Qatar.

The future king is said to have immediately passed on the money (estimated at a total of 3 million euros, over a period of five years) to one of his charitable foundations and a representative of Clarence House, speaking at Charles’s name, said the charity then ‘put the proper governance in place and made sure that all the right processes were followed’.

However, the Queen’s eldest son could now be investigated by the Charity Commission, which said, according to The temperaturethat they will review information on cash donations that took place between 2011 and 2015 and then make a call to find out whether or not further action is needed.

As to why an investigation may be necessary, although it is not illegal for the prince to have accepted cash donations (and all the evidence so far indicates that the money was indeed promptly deposited on accounts of the Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund, an organization that provides grants to non-profit organisations), it is important that major donors undergo due diligence, in order to avoid any kind of scandal or damage to the reputation of charities.

It has been reported that royal sources confirmed that donations were made in cash and received by the prince, but disputed certain details, such as the money placed in Fortnum & Mason carrier bags.

Author and former Liberal Democrat cabinet minister, Norman Baker, who has written extensively on royal finances, said of the exchange: “A million euros in cash crammed into bags, or stuffed into a holdall or a suitcase, and handed over behind closed doors, that’s what you would expect from a South American drug lord, not the heir to the British throne.That’s dirty and scuzzy behavior.

The charity commission’s guidelines recommend that if charities know that a major donor is “from a country or operates a business, possibly outside the UK, about which public concern has been raised , then administrators should take more steps to verify the provenance of the fund“.

The sheikh has been linked to several controversies in recent years, including a suggestion that Qatar funded al-Nusra Front (a Syrian branch of al-Qaeda) while in power – something his legal team has said. described as “distortion, exaggeration and wholesale”. manufacturing”.

PWCF Chairman Sir Ian Cheshire said when asked by The Sunday Times: “A few hours notice from The Sunday Times, we have verified this event in the past and confirm that previous directors of PWCF discussed the governance and relationship with the donor (confirming that the donor was a legitimate and verified counterparty) and that our auditors approved the donation after a specific investigation during the audit. There was no governance failure… The donation was made in cash and it was the choice of the donor.

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