Prince Charles Reportedly Secured Over £1million For His Charity From Osama Bin Laden’s Family Despite Objections From Advisers

Prince Charles agreed to take £1million from the family of al-Qaeda founder Osama Bin Laden for his charity despite objections from his advisers.

The royal, 73, is understood to have accepted the payment for the Prince of Wales Charitable Foundation from Bakr bin Laden, head of the family, and his brother Shafiq both half-brothers of 9/11 mastermind Osama.

The agreement was made following a private meeting between Charles and Bakr, 76, at Clarence House on October 30, 2013, two years after the terrorist was shot dead during a special operation by US forces in Pakistan, The Sunday Times reports.

It came despite protestations from advisers at Clarence House and the charity, who are said to have pleaded with him to return the money.

A member of staff at Clarence House is understood to have warned that, if the revelation was to become public knowledge, it would cause nationwide outrage.

Charles was also reportedly told that “it would not be good for anybody” if it became known that he had accepted the payment from the family of the man behind the infamous terror attack, while another warned of huge reputational damage.

A source told The Times: “The fact that a member of the highest level of the British establishment was choosing to broker deals with a name and a family that not only rang alarm bells, but abject horror around the world… why would you do this? What good reason is there to do this?”

They added: “I just didn’t feel any member of the British royal family should be involved in that sort of undertaking.”

But Charles decided against handing the money back to the family on the basis that it was too embarrassing and they would suspect the reasoning behind it.

And when staff became very vociferous with their opposition to the agreement, they were shouted down.

The charity’s chairman Sir Ian Cheshire said the donation was agreed with five trustees: Kew Gardens chair and financier Dame Amelia Fawcett; former BT chairman Sir Michael Rake; ex-Barclays chief exec John Varley; academic Kenneth Wilson and then principal private secretary to Charles William Nye.

Mr Varley is understood to have raised concerns with the prince before a decision was made.

A source at Charles’ charity said approval was granted after the money had been deposited in its bank account at Coutts where the funds were placed on hold ahead of a later discussion.

Bakr and Shafiq bin Laden have not been linked, nor is there any suggestion of involvement, to any terrorist activity.

They are related to Osama through their father Mohammed bin Awad, a Yemeni-born billionaire who made his money through a construction conglomerate before his death in a plane crash in 1967.

Reins for the company were handed to Bakr, but his relationship with the Saudi royals deteriorated in 2015 following an incident at one of its projects that resulted in 100 deaths.

Bakr, along with two older brothers Saad and Salah, were detained as part of an anti-corruption drive two years later. Bakr was released last year.

The family disassociated itself from Osama years ago, but has always been dogged by their link to him.

As charities are not mandated to disclose their backers, the relationship has not been established any official public documents.

It comes after Charles was told last week he will not be probed by the Charity Commission over a £2.5m cash donation ‘stuffed into a suitcase and carrier bags’ from the former Qatari Prime Minister.

The watchdog said it has looked at the information and has decided against intervening following allegations Charles was reportedly given three million euros by a former Qatari PM, Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jaber Al Thani.

The heir to the throne, 73, faced criticism after it was claimed he was presented with three donations of nearly £900,000 a time said to be in 500 euro notes that was stuffed in carrier bags and a holdall between 2011 and 2015.

While it is legal to both hand over and accept cash in the millions, concern about huge ready-money transactions has arisen in recent years.

They can be used to help launder ill-gotten gains, and potentially give enormous benefits to tax avoiders.

A royal source insisted last month that the future king operates on advice and such incidents have not happened in the past half decade and would not happen again.

It is only a few months since the Metropolitan Police and Charity Commission launched inquiries into allegations of a different nature surrounding links between Charles’s Prince’s Foundation a different body to the PWCF and Saudi billionaire Mahfouz Marei Mubarak Bin Mahfouz’s foundation.

Prince Charles’s long-term confidante Michael Fawcett resigned as head of the Prince’s Foundation at the same time following claims he promised to help donor Dr Bin Mahfouz get not only British citizenship but a knighthood too. Prince Charles has said he had no knowledge of any cash-for-honours offers.

The donations from Sheikh Hamad, 62, who was prime minister of Qatar from 2007 to 2013, were reportedly personally accepted by Prince Charles.

Mr Chesire said: “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 spokesperson for Clarence House added: “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.”