The Guardian: Qatari corruption threatens reputation of Prince Charles
The British royal family is facing a financial scandal involving Prince Charles and Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim, the former Prime Minister of Qatar. Prince Charles is facing charges of having bags containing 3 million euros in cash during a series of meetings of the former Qatari Prime Minister.
According to the British media, Prince Charles received a total of 3 million euros during meetings with Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim where the money was handed over to the British Heir to the Throne in a bag on one occasion, as well as in the transport bags of Fortnum & Mason, a store carrying a royal order that goes directly to the Emir’s house; Bin Jassim served as Prime Minister of Qatar from 2007 to 2013.
Qatari corruption
The British newspaper, The Guardian, revealed that the deliveries took place during meetings between Charles and Bin Jassim, including one private meeting in Clarence House in 2015. In a statement, a spokesman for Clarence House said: The money provided during the 2015 meeting “was immediately passed to one of the Prince’s charities that carried out the appropriate covenants and confirmed to us that all the proper procedures were followed”, the newspaper reported. The bag containing the money was handed over to two of Charles’ advisers, who were said to have prepared the money manually. The Palace’s aides allegedly then asked the private bank Coats to collect cash from Charles’ London residence and collect the money, the paper reported.
The Sunday Times reported that there was no indication that the payments were illegal. The newspaper pointed out that despite Prince Charles’ statements, Bin Jassim is one of the world’s wealthiest men, and he is known in Britain as the man who bought London after he used his wealth, as well as his influence on the Qatari Wealth Fund, to make huge investments in London, including buying hotels Shard, Harrods and Intercontinental London Park Lane. He is also the owner of one of the richest football clubs in the world, Paris Saint-Germain, and is the main financier of the Al-Qaeda branch in the Levant.
Royal Protocol Violation
The head of the charity’s trustees confirmed to the newspaper that a 2015 donation had been made, and then the trustees, who have a legal duty to protect the charity’s reputation from this controversial donation, discussed it. The charity is said to have confirmed that the 2015 donation was made in cash on the basis of the donor’s choice. According to the newspaper, Prince Charles has violated Britain’s Royal Protocol, which states that members of the royal family can receive checks on behalf of their charity and can never accept the money.
Suspicious relationships
According to the newspaper, the secret relationship between Charles and Bin Jassim dates back to 2010, when the Prince of Wales sent a letter in which he pressured his Qatari friend to postpone the redevelopment of Chelsea Barracks in London at a value of £3 billion. It added that Charles later met the Emir of Qatar to have tea at Clarence House, where the issue was raised again. After that, Qatar withdrew the plans, which prompted the Kandy brothers, who were overseeing the development, to file a lawsuit worth £81 million.
The newspaper reported that these latest allegations come at an embarrassing time for the Prince, as Clarence House refutes the allegations of a culture of “cash for access” in his organization. The Metropolitan Police and the Philanthropic Commission are investigating fundraising practices, including the sale of honors. According to the British Daily Mail, Bin Jassim was a friend of the royal family and a constant visitor to the May Castle, the former home of the Queen Mother in Caithness, which is kept by the Prince of Wales Charity Foundation, a different body from the Grant Fund. Sir Alistair Graham, former Chairman of the Committee on Standards in Royal Life, said, “If the Qatari government wanted to give a gift to the Charles Foundation, there were appropriate ways to do these things instead of handling large sums”.
Cover attempts
According to the British Daily Mail, the secret relations between Prince Charles and Bin Jassim will implicate the heir to the British throne and tarnish his reputation. It went on to say that the future king will be plunged into a major financial scandal because of his relationship with the rulers of Qatar, in addition to raising new questions about his rule, it creates a worrying possibility that the heir to the throne will be involved in the investigation of a second charity committee into the fund raising practices of charities. According to the newspaper, Charles has replaced Michael Fawcett, the executive president of his charity, Emily Sherington, to improve his image, and help hide the catastrophe of receiving funds from the former Prime Minister of Qatar. Fawcett was the first assistant to Charles, who received controversial Qatari funds, and excluded him from his position to help improve the credibility of the charity, and added that this step helped Charles, despite the closest friend of his institution.
