Beautiful Virgin Islands

Wednesday, Jan 07, 2026

0:00
0:00

Prince Charles accepted £1m from family of Osama bin Laden

Future king allegedly accepted donation for his charity in 2013 but Clarence House disputes the claims
The Prince of Wales received a £1m donation for his charity from relatives of Osama bin Laden, according to a report.

The Sunday Times alleged that the future king accepted the payment from Bakr bin Laden, the patriarch of the Saudi family, and his brother Shafiq.

Prince Charles, 73, is said to have held a private meeting with Bakr, 76, at Clarence House in London on 30 October 2013, two years after Osama bin Laden was shot dead by US special forces at a compound near Islamabad in Pakistan, according to the newspaper.

Clarence House strongly disputes many of the claims, saying the decision to accept the donation to his charity, the Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund (PWCF), was taken solely by trustees.

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

There is no suggestion that Bakr or Shafiq bin Laden has sponsored or been involved in acts of terrorism.

Sir Ian Cheshire, chairman of the Prince of Wales Charitable Foundation (PWCF), where the money was deposited, 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.”

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

A Clarence House spokesperson said: “The Prince of Wales’ 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 suggestions that the prince 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 source also denied that the Prince was urged to return the money and was told the sum “would not be good for anybody”.

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

Last week, the Charity Commission said it would take no further action over the reports that Charles was given a total of €3m (£2.6m) during meetings with Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani.

The Sunday Times reported that the cash was handed to the Prince of Wales in a suitcase on one occasion, a holdall on another, as well as in Fortnum & Mason carrier bags, the upmarket department store which holds a royal warrant to supply the prince’s household with groceries.

The handovers were alleged to have occurred during meetings between the two men, including a private one-to-one meeting at Clarence House in 2015.

Each payment was deposited into the accounts of the PWCF and there is no suggestion the payments were illegal.

A Clarence House spokesperson said in June the money given during the 2015 meeting was “passed immediately to one of the prince’s charities who carried out the appropriate covenants and assured us that all the correct processes were followed”.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Béla Tarr, Visionary Hungarian Filmmaker, Dies at Seventy After Long Illness
UK and France Pledge Military Hubs Across Ukraine in Post-Ceasefire Security Plan
Prince Harry Poised to Regain UK Security Cover, Clearing Way for Family Visits
UK Junk Food Advertising Ban Faces Major Loophole Allowing Brand-Only Promotions
Maduro’s Arrest Without The Hague Tests International Law—and Trump’s Willingness to Break It
German Intelligence Secretly Intercepted Obama’s Air Force One Communications
The U.S. State Department’s account in Persian: “President Trump is a man of action. If you didn’t know it until now, now you do—do not play games with President Trump.”
Fake Mainstream Media Double Standard: Elon Musk Versus Mamdani
HSBC Leads 2026 Mortgage Rate Cuts as UK Lending Costs Ease
US Joint Chiefs Chairman Outlines How Operation Absolute Resolve Was Carried Out in Venezuela
Starmer Welcomes End of Maduro Era While Stressing International Law and UK Non-Involvement
Korean Beauty Turns Viral Skincare Into a Global Export Engine
UK Confirms Non-Involvement in U.S. Military Action Against Venezuela
UK Terror Watchdog Calls for Australian-Style Social Media Ban to Protect Teenagers
Iranian Protests Intensify as Another Revolutionary Guard Member Is Killed and Khamenei Blames the West
Delta Force Identified as Unit Behind U.S. Operation That Captured Venezuela’s President
Europe’s Luxury Sanctions Punish Russian Consumers While a Sanctions-Circumvention Industry Thrives
Berkshire’s Buffett-to-Abel Transition Tests Whether a One-Man Trust Model Can Survive as a System
Fraud in European Central Bank: Lagarde’s Hidden Pay Premium Exposes a Transparency Crisis at the European Central Bank
Trump Announces U.S. Large-Scale Strike on Venezuela, Declares President Maduro and Wife Captured
Tesla Loses EV Crown to China’s BYD After Annual Deliveries Decline in 2025
UK Manufacturing Growth Reaches 15-Month Peak as Output and Orders Improve in December
Beijing Threatened to Scrap UK–China Trade Talks After British Minister’s Taiwan Visit
Newly Released Files Reveal Tony Blair Pressured Officials Over Iraq Death Case Involving UK Soldiers
Top Stocks and Themes to Watch in 2026 as Markets Enter New Year with Fresh Momentum
No UK Curfew Ordered as Deepfake TikTok Falsely Attributes Decree to Prime Minister Starmer
Europe’s Largest Defence Groups Set to Return Nearly Five Billion Dollars to Shareholders in Twenty Twenty-Five
Abu Dhabi ‘Capital of Capital’: How Abu Dhabi Rose as a Sovereign Wealth Power
Diamonds Are Powering a New Quantum Revolution
Trump Threatens Strikes Against Iran if Nuclear Programme Is Restarted
Apple Escalates Legal Fight by Appealing £1.5 Billion UK Ruling Over App Store Fees
UK Debt Levels Sit Mid-Range Among Advanced Economies Despite Rising Pressures
UK Plans Royal Diplomacy with King Charles and Prince William to Reinvigorate Trade Talks with US
King Charles and Prince William Poised for Separate 2026 US Visits to Reinforce UK-US Trade and Diplomatic Ties
Apple Moves to Appeal UK Ruling Ordering £1.5 Billion in Customer Overcharge Damages
King Charles’s 2025 Christmas Message Tops UK Television Ratings on Christmas Day
The Battle Over the Internet Explodes: The United States Bars European Officials and Ignites a Diplomatic Crisis
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Join Royal Family at Sandringham Christmas Service
Fine Wine Investors Find Little Cheer in Third Year of Falls
UK Mortgage Rates Edge Lower as Bank of England Base Rate Cut Filters Through Lending Market
U.S. Supermarket Gives Customers Free Groceries for Christmas After Computer Glitch
Air India ‘Finds’ a Plane That Vanished 13 Years Ago
Caviar and Foie Gras? China Is Becoming a Luxury Food Powerhouse
Hong Kong Climbs to Second Globally in 2025 Tourism Rankings Behind Bangkok
From Sunniest Year on Record to Terror Plots and Sports Triumphs: The UK’s Defining Stories of 2025
Greta Thunberg Released on Bail After Arrest at London Pro-Palestinian Demonstration
Banksy Unveils New Winter Mural in London Amid Festive Season Excitement
UK Households Face Rising Financial Strain as Tax Increases Bite and Growth Loses Momentum
UK Government Approves Universal Studios Theme Park in Bedford Poised to Rival Disneyland Paris
UK Gambling Shares Slide as Traders Respond to Steep Tax Rises and Sector Uncertainty
×