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LONDON — Claims a Saudi citizen was offered a knighthood in exchange for donations to a foundation set up by Prince Charles are to be investigated by the Metropolitan Police.
The Mail on Sunday reported last year that an aide to the Prince of Wales — Queen Elizabeth II’s eldest son and first in line to the British throne – offered to help a Saudi billionaire obtain a knighthood and British citizenship in exchange for “generous” cash donations to the Prince’s Foundation.
The paper published a letter in which the aide, Michael Fawcett, said the charity would be “happy and willing” to use its influence to help businessman Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz, a Saudi businessman. Fawcett resigned as chief executive of the foundation last year.
In a statement issued Wednesday, Scotland Yard said it had launched an investigation. Under the U.K.’s Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act 1925 the sale of peerages or any other honors is illegal.
“The decision follows an assessment of a September 2021 letter. This related to media reporting alleging offers of help were made to secure honours and citizenship for a Saudi national,” the force said.
The Met’s Special Enquiry Team, which is separately investigating allegations of rule-breaking parties in Boris Johnson’s government during the pandemic, has also been in touch with the foundation, which conducted its own investigation into fundraising practices, the statement said.
There have been no arrests or interviews under caution to date, it added.
Source: Politico
