CHARLES THE ROCKY PLANET
The cash-for-honours scandal surrounding the queen’s heir has reared its ugly head again.
Scotland Yard recently announced it was launching an investigation into Charles’ charity The Prince’s Foundation after former chief executive Michael Fawcett stepped down in disgrace last year.
Michael is accused of promising to secure a knighthood and British citizenship for Saudi billionaire Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz in exchange for donations to the charity.
A letter he wrote to a representative of Mahfouz in 2017 was leaked last year.
“In light of the ongoing and most recent generosity of His Excellency, I’m happy to confirm to you in confidence that we’re willing and happy to support and contribute to the application for citizenship.”
Charles’ aide also offered to upgrade Mahfouz’s CBE “for services to charities in the UK” to a knighthood. Mahfouz then reportedly upped his donations to the Prince of Wales’ charities.
The first in line to the throne is apparently outraged by the scandal and insists he knows nothing about Michael’s actions. “It was an earthquake,” a friend of the prince told Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper. “Once what Michael Fawcett had done was established to be true, he demanded an investigation.”
Officials at Clarence House, Charles’ official residence, have pointed out that while the prince is president of the foundation, he isn’t involved in its day-to-day running or activities.
But royal watchers say Charles (73) could be in trouble. His name has been attached to distinctly unsavoury business and the damage might be so far-reaching it could put his ascension to the throne in jeopardy.
“Charles might have to shuffle off into exile if things turn torrid, never to be crowned king,” columnist Jan Moir writes in the Daily Mail.
“This would leave the ascension route clear for King William, which seems to be what people would prefer anyway.”
Jobson believes Charles is a fundamentally good man, though. “My feeling is that yes, he might get a slap across the knuckles, but is he a dishonest man that would do this cash-for-honours stuff? Absolutely not.”