Harry hit in Saudi tycoon’s scandal
LONDON: The Duke of Sussex has been drawn into the “cash for access” scandal involving his father Prince Charles as new evidence shows he held a private meeting with a Saudi billionaire while seeking further donations for royal charities.
The billionaire – Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz – is the same man who secured a CBE, thanks to the efforts of Prince Charles’ right-hand man, Michael Fawcett, in 2014.
Prince Harry agreed to see Mahfouz after he gave $95,000 to his charity and hinted he would give millions more.
The pair met at a pub in Chelsea, west London, owned by Mark “Marko” Dyer, a former royal equerry known as Harry’s “second father”, who brokered the introduction in 2013.
They discussed Sentebale, the charity Harry founded after his gap year.
The following year the duke, 37, saw Mahfouz, 51, at Clarence House after the Prince Charles had held his own meeting with the Saudi. Harry is alleged to have joked: “Has Father beaten me to it and got the money?”
Harry was snapped with Mahfouz’s teen sons at Beaufort Polo Club in the Cotswolds. The prince’s aides simultaneously agreed to throw a banquet in Mahfouz’s honour at St James’s Palace. The relationship gave Mahfouz the opportunity to pose for photos with the prince, which he used while seeking recognition and residency in Britain, and publicised through his charity.
It helped to open the way for his introduction to Prince Charles, whose right-hand man, Fawcett, had been told that Mahfouz had a “long track record of philanthropy” and was sent details of his donations to Sentebale in the spring of 2014. Fawcett later helped him secure a CBE.
The Sunday Times revealed details of the honour application in September, leading to the resignation of Fawcett and a complaint to the police.
By late 2014 Harry’s advisers allegedly had concerns about Mahfouz, opting to wind down the relationship.
Dyer, 57, acted as the key intermediary between Mahfouz’s advisers, royal staff and Sentebale. At the time, Dyer was a trustee of Sentebale, a role he retains. Neither he nor the charity would say if he told the charity’s leadership or board about the apparent “cash for access” arrangement.
Emails in January 2012 show Mahfouz’s adviser telling a royal intermediary that Mahfouz had agreed to give money, but his family wanted to know “precisely what they are getting for that”.
The adviser to Mahfouz floated ideas with the intermediary, including bringing Mahfouz’s sons to a polo match with Harry.
Within 48 hours the royal intermediary declared that such opportunities would be arranged and with the supervision of Dyer. A delay followed while Mahfouz set up his own British charitable foundation. In February 2013 he sent $95,000 to Sentebale.
That summer Harry met the Saudi’s sons at Beaufort, posing for photos with them.