Charles gives key £95k job to aide who f logged royal gifts
Michael Fawcett back in the fold as the head of his charity empire
PRINCE’S Charles’s controversial former valet, Michael Fawcett, was put in charge of his charity empire yesterday, sealing an astonishing rise to power.
Mr Fawcett, who started as a junior footman, has been made the £95,000-ayear chief executive of The Prince’s Foundation in a major re-organisation of Charles’s philanthropic work.
This has put him in charge of a multimillionpound budget and gives him responsibility for all the future king’s public work on issues including architecture, heritage, culture and education.
Mr Fawcett’s appointment is all the more remarkable given that he has been forced to resign from the Prince’s service twice.
Last night, one royal source said Mr Fawcett’s rise to power seemed ‘ unstoppable’, adding: ‘ Many believe the Prince will retain and promote him to an even more senior role when he becomes King. They are simply inseparable.’
Mr Fawcett began his royal service in 1981 as a footman to the Queen, becoming sergeant footman and then Charles’ assistant valet, setting out his bespoke suits and shirts every morning at Kensington Palace.
He even had to squeeze toothpaste on his master’s toothbrush after the Prince broke his arm playing polo, and became so indispensable that Charles once said: ‘I can manage without just about anyone, except for Michael.’
But colleagues noted how he began to ape his boss both in the way he dressed and the way in which he threw his weight about.
When a number of the Prince’s staff complained to Charles about Mr Fawcett’s overbearing and bullying attitude in 1998, he resigned. Within a week, however, he was reinstated – and promoted.
Then, in 2003, he was forced out when an inquiry found he had sold off official gifts on Charles’s orders. He was accused of pocketing a percentage of the proceeds, but was cleared by an internal inquiry of any financial misconduct.
But the report painted a picture of him as a bully who accepted valuable gifts from outsiders.
After he quit, Charles rewarded him with £500,000 in severance pay – and retained his services as a freelance fixer and party planner.
Indeed, when Mr Fawcett set up the events firm Premier Mode, the Prince became his most lucrative client, relying on him to organise everything from Camilla’s birthday parties to lavish fundraisers.
Royal aides confirmed yesterday that while Premier Mode would not be allowed to cater for Prince’s Foundation events, it would continue to be paid to organise other receptions and dinners for Charles
and other royals. Premier Mode received more than £270,000 from the Prince’s charities last year.
For the past five years, Mr Fawcett has also worked as chief of executive of Dumfries House Trust, a stately home rescued by the prince on behalf of the nation which has become the base for his charitable endeavours.
Aides said Mr Fawcett had helped to raise tens of millions of pounds and created 200 jobs at the house, its estate and the wider area in the role. He will not get a pay rise for his new appointment, which was made by the board of The Prince’s Foundation.
Foundation chairman JayneAnne Gadhia said Mr Fawcett had an ‘exemplary’ track record, adding: ‘We are thrilled to have Michael Fawcett as the new CEO of The Prince’s Foundation.
‘His achievements as CEO of Dumfries House include raising significant sums for good causes and creating employment for more than 150 people in the very challenging economic climate of East Ayrshire. We have great confidence that he will do a similarly excellent job for The Prince’s Foundation.’
In a video to the staff of his 21 charities and organisations yesterday, Charles stressed he was not ‘stepping back from my charitable work or downsizing in any way’.
But the move will be interpreted by some as helping to ensure a smooth transition to the throne for the Prince, who will be 70 in November. He said: ‘Now, as I approach something of a milestone in my own life, I have had a chance to reflect on how best to ensure my charities can continue to help those people and causes they were initially set up to serve, both now and for many years to come.’
He said an independent review was appointed to examine what changes were needed to let his organisations work ‘as efficiently as possible, whist also allowing me to use my own time with them to greatest effect’. The reorganisation will result in a few job losses, and savings said to be of hundreds of thousands of pounds.