Prince Charles has been under criticism for months due to a donation scandal. Now there are new allegations against the heir to the throne, which have already led to investigations.
A few months ago it became known that Prince Charles is said to have accepted donations of around three million euros from a sheikh from Qatar from 2011 to 2015 – in cash, sometimes stuffed into a simple shopping bag. The revelation caused a stir in the UK. So much so that the heir to the British throne is rumored to have taken action and decided not to accept any more cash donations in the future. That decision might have come a bit too late, though. Because in the meantime the next donation scandal is looming.
As reported by The Sunday Times, entrepreneur Lord Brownlow is said to have helped Prince Charles out financially. According to the report, the Queen’s eldest son wanted to set up an eco-village with his foundation in East Ayrshire, Scotland, near his Dumfries House estate, to help revitalize the area economically. However, Charles failed with this plan. Only 31 of the planned 770 houses were actually built – Charles and his Prince’s Foundation were left with the remaining properties. That’s where Lord Brownlow supposedly came into play.
Between 2012 and 2017, Brownlow’s company Havisham Properties is said to have bought eleven of these unused properties and spent the equivalent of almost two million euros. During this time, however, Brownlow was also appointed trustee for Charles’ Prince’s Foundation, his company apparently received several lucrative contracts from the same organization and in 2018 he was appointed Commander of the Victorian Order (CVO) in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace.
The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, an agency of the Scottish Government responsible for charities, has already launched an investigation into whether the deals between Charles and Brownlow were fair, a spokesperson confirmed to the newspaper . The Prince’s Foundation does not want to know that Brownlow may have bought his order through the million-dollar real estate deal. “Lord Brownlow was appointed CVO in 2018 in recognition of his role as Chair of the Prince’s Foundation for Building Community,” the statement said. A spokesman for Prince Charles said: “Chairmen of charities with close ties to the Royal Family are often placed in the Royal Victorian Order to thank them for their public service at the end of their term.”
This latest scandal isn’t the first time Brownlow has made headlines, however. There was already talk of a corruption scandal at the beginning of the year, but this time in connection with Boris Johnson. Brownlow is said to have paid the equivalent of nearly £70,000 to refurbish Johnson’s official residence at 10 Downing Street. In return, the prime minister assured the businessman his support for a project.
The year has been a pretty grim one for the British royal family so far. And now this too: The Royal Family is confronted with a loss of millions. Income goes down, expenses go up. What now?
After criticism about money from Qatar: Prince Charles will no longer accept large cash donations
Prince Charles has accepted a total of three million euros in cash from Qatar – some stuffed in shopping bags. After the revelations in the British media, the heir to the throne is now speaking.
The original of this article “Orders against a sum of millions? New allegations against Prince Charles” comes from Bunte.de.