Bin Laden family’s £1m for Charles charity was ‘lawful’

THE Charity Commission will not investigate the Prince of Wales’s charity for accepting a £1 million donation from the family of Osama bin Laden.

The charity watchdog has ruled the donation is a “matter for trustees”, with no indication it was unlawful.

They will not take a role in investigating the decision, a spokesman has said, but will continue with two different statutory inquiries into accusations linked to the Prince’s charities.

On Sunday, it was reported that the Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund (PWCF) accepted £1million from the half-brothers of Osama bin Laden, the former al-qaeda leader.

The charity accepted the payment from Bakr bin Laden, the patriarch of the Saudi family, and his brother Shafiq, with trustees understood to believe that the actions of the terrorist should not tarnish the whole family name.

The Prince is known to have met with Bakr, 76, at Clarence House in London, on Oct 30 2013, two years after Osama bin Laden was killed in Pakistan.

A spokesman for the Charity Commission said: “[This] historic donation does not appear to be unlawful. There is therefore no role for the Commission.”

A spokesman for Clarence House said of the Bin Laden donation: “The Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund has assured us that thorough due diligence was undertaken in accepting this donation.”

Sir Ian Cheshire, chairman of PWCF, said: “Due diligence was conducted, with information sought from a range of sources, including Government.”