Prince Charles’ charity took £1 million from the bin Laden family

The Prince of Wales took a £1 million donation from relatives of Osama bin Laden for his charity, reports the Guardian.

According to The Sunday Times, Bakr bin Laden – the patriarch of the Saudi family – and his brother Shafiq gave the money to the future king, the report said.

The report claims that on October 30, 2013 – two years after Osama bin Laden was killed by US special forces at a compound near Islamabad in Pakistan – Prince Charles (73) met privately with Bakr (76) at Clarence House in London.

Many of the allegations are strenuously disputed by Clarence House, which maintains that trustees alone decided whether to accept the donation for his charity, the Prince of Wales's Charitable Fund (PWCF), Guardian reports.

Bakr and Shafiq bin Laden, half-brothers of Osama, relate to the founder of al-Qaida through their father Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden, a Yemeni-born billionaire.

However, no evidence exists to imply that Bakr or Shafiq bin Laden had supported or participated in terrorist activities.

Sir Ian Cheshire, chairman of PWCF, said in a statement: "The donation from Sheik Bakr bin Laden in 2013 was carefully considered by PWCF Trustees at the time.

"Due diligence was conducted, with information sought from a wide range of sources, including government. The decision to accept the donation was taken wholly by the Trustees.

"Any attempt to suggest otherwise is misleading and inaccurate," the report quoted the PWCF chairman.

After a thorough examination of the issues, a source close to the charity said, the trustees concluded that the actions of one bin Laden family member should not tarnish the whole family, the report said.

A Clarence House spokesperson said, "The Prince of Wales's Charitable Fund has assured us that thorough due diligence was undertaken in accepting this donation. The decision to accept was taken by the charity's trustees alone and any attempt to characterise it otherwise is false."

A source disputed claimes that Charles had personally brokered the deal, had agreed to the donations despite advisers' objections and that several advisers pleaded with him in person to return the money, the report mentioned.

This comes a month after it came to light that the Prince of Wales accepted bags containing millions of euros in cash during meetings with the former prime minister of Qatar.