The five trustees at the time approved the donation, according to PWCF Chairman Ian Cheshire.
Digital
Desk: According to The Sunday Times, Osama bin Laden's family
sent Prince Charles, the heir to the British monarchy, a donation of one million
pounds ($1.19 million, 1.21 million euros) for his charitable trust.
The revelation puts the 73-year-old prince's
charitable organisations, 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 opposition from advisors from the trust and his
office, the 73-year-old Charles consented to make the donation to the Prince of
Wales Charitable Fund (PWCF) when he met Bakr, 76, at Clarence House in London
in 2013, according to the newspaper.
The five trustees at the time approved the donation,
according to PWCF Chairman Ian Cheshire.
In response to allegations of a cash-for-honors scandal
involving a Saudi billionaire, British police opened an inquiry into another of
Charles' charitable institutions in February.
Following an internal inquiry into the claims, The
Prince's Foundation's director 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.
It is said that Fawcett, a longtime friend of Queen
Elizabeth II's heir and a former valet to the Prince of Wales, orchestrated
efforts to give Mahfouz a royal honour and even British citizenship.
Mahfouz allegedly insists he did nothing wrong.
A official investigation into donations received by
Mahfouz's charitable trust that were meant for the prince's foundation has been
launched, according to the Charities Commission, which registers and regulates
charities in England and Wales.
The Prince's Foundation, founded in 1986, is registered
with the Scottish Charity Regulator but is not subject to regulation by the
Charities Commission.
In response to allegations that the foundation had taken
money from a Russian banker who had previously been found guilty of money laundering,
the Scottish body opened its own investigation in September.
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