CNN
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Clarence House, the residence of Prince Charles, has disputed claims reported within the UK’s Sunday Times that the inheritor to the throne brokered a deal in 2013 to just accept a £1 million charity donation from Osama bin Laden’s half-brothers.
The Sunday Times, citing unnamed sources, reported that Prince Charles accepted the donation from Bakr bin Laden and Shafiq bin Laden for The Prince of Wales’ Charitable Fund (PWCF) regardless of objections from key advisers on the time.
Clarence House disputed that assertion on Saturday, saying the choice to just accept the cash was made by the charity’s Trustees, and never Prince Charles.
“The Prince of Wales’ Charitable Fund has assured us that thorough due diligence was undertaken in accepting this donation,” the Clarence House assertion stated. “The decision to accept was taken by the charity’s Trustees alone and any attempt to characterize it otherwise is false.”
Bakr bin Laden is the previous chairman of the Jeddah-based building firm Saudi Binladin Group. Osama bin Laden was eliminated as a shareholder from the household firm in 1993, when Bakr bin Laden was chairman, US courtroom paperwork present.
Osama Bin Laden was the chief of al Qaeda when the community carried out the September 11 assaults in New York in 2001. He was killed by US particular forces in an operation 10 years later.
Neither Bakr or Shafiq bin Laden have any recognized ties to terrorist actions or seem on any counter-terror sanctions lists issued by the United Nations or the governments of the US, EU and the UK.
According to the Sunday Times report, Prince Charles secured the funds after a gathering with Bakr bin Laden, and accepted the donation, regardless of the “initial objection of advisers at Clarence House” and the PWCF.
PWCF additionally responded to the Sunday Times’ report saying that “the donation from Sheik Bakr Bin Laden was carefully considered by PWCF Trustees. Due diligence was conducted, with information sought from a wide range of sources, including government.”
A royal supply advised CNN that they disputed The Sunday Times’ claims that Prince Charles personally accepted the donation, that he brokered the deal and that advisors round Prince Charles pleaded for him to return the cash on the time.
A supply near PWCF stated that “after a thorough examination of the issues, the Trustees concluded that the actions of one Bin Laden family member should not tarnish the whole family.”
The Sunday Times reported in June that Prince Charles had accepted charitable donations within the type of money from Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, the previous prime minister of Qatar, between 2011 and 2015. Clarence House additionally disputed the small print of the June report and stated that the “correct processes” have been adopted when it comes to accepting the donation.