Charles aide probed over ‘knighthood for cash’ note
THE Prince of Wales’s trusted aide has stepped down as leader of his charity as an investigation begins into claims he offered to help secure UK citizenship and a knighthood for a donor.
Michael Fawcett – once Charles’s valet – made the offer in a letter to the office of billionaire Saudi businessman Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz, who donated large sums to restoration projects for The Prince’s Foundation.
Mr Fawcett, 58, stepped down temporarily as chief executive after the allegations emerged in The Mail On Sunday.
The charity’s chair Douglas Connell said: ‘Michael fully supports the ongoing investigation and has confirmed that he will assist it in every way.’
Mr Fawcett began his royal service in 1981 as a footman to the Queen after leaving catering college.
He rose to sergeant footman and was later Charles’s assistant valet – setting out his bespoke suits and shirts every morning at Kensington Palace – before becoming his personal assistant.
In 2003, he was accused of selling unwanted royal gifts and pocketing a percentage of the proceeds but was cleared of financial misconduct by an internal inquiry.
Although it found Mr Fawcett did ‘infringe internal rules relating to gifts from suppliers’ he was not severely criticised as rules were not enforced and he made no secret of his actions.
But the report painted Mr Fawcett as an alleged bully who accepted valuable gifts from outsiders.
He later resigned but picked up an undisclosed cash severance package as well as an agreement to work as the Prince’s events manager.
He was made chief executive of The Prince’s Foundation in 2018.
Mr Mahfouz denies any wrongdoing.