Report: Prince Charles’ charity received $1.2M donation from bin Laden’s relatives

LONDON — One of Prince Charles’ charities accepted a $1.2 million donation from relatives of Osama bin Laden, according to a published report.

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The Sunday Times of London reported that the Prince of Wales, 73, the heir to the British throne, accepted the money in 2013.

The prince’s Charitable Fund received the money from Bakr bin Laden, the patriarch of a wealthy Saudi family, and his brother, Shafiq, according to the newspaper. Both are half-brothers of the late al-Qaida leader, who was killed in Pakistan by U.S. special forces in 2011, The Associated Press reported.

Charles allegedly had a private meeting with Bakr bin Laden at Clarence House in London on Oct. 30, 2013, The Guardian reported.

The Sunday Times said advisers had urged the prince to refuse the donation.

The prince’s Clarence House office disputed that claim and told the BBC that it had been assured by PWCF that “thorough due diligence” had been conducted, and the decision to accept the money lay with the charity’s five trustees.

“Any attempt to characterize it otherwise is false,” Clarence House officials told the news organization.

The fund’s chairman, Ian Cheshire, also said the donation was agreed “wholly” by the trustees at the time, according to the AP.

Charles has faced several claims about the operation of his charities, the news organization reported.

Last month, The Sunday Times reported that the prince had accepted $3 million in cash from Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, the former prime minister of Qatar.

London police are currently investigating a separate allegation that another of the prince’s charities, the Prince’s Foundation, offered to help a Saudi billionaire receive citizenship in exchange for donations, according to the AP.

Clarence House said the prince had no knowledge of the offer.

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