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Former bosses of King Charles’s charity, including the monarch’s former personal aide, Michael Fawcett, have been criticised by a charity watchdog over their handling of a series of controversial dealings with wealthy donors.
The Scottish Charity Regulator said the trustee board overseeing the Prince’s Foundation (now the King’s Foundation) “had not always been up to the standard required” during a period of eight years up to 2021.
The foundation came under scrutiny in 2021 over its involvement in cash-for-honours allegations involving wealthy businessmen who made cash donations to the charity and, in one case, loaned it what were later reported to be forged paintings.
The allegations resulted in a Metropolitan police investigation launched in 2022 into suggestions Fawcett, the foundation’s former chief executive, offered to help wealthy British and foreign donors to the charity secure honours and British citizenship.
Fawcett resigned, receiving a £60,000 pay off, after an internal review by the foundation after media reports of the allegations. The Met decided to take no further action into the cash-for-honours allegations after completing an 18-month inquiry last year.
The regulator’s report, published on Tuesday, highlights “inadequate decision-making” and “poor record-keeping” at the foundation prior to 2021, along with evidence of failures of management and administration.
In one instance Fawcett put the charity at “significant risk” after a number of paintings reportedly worth more than £100m loaned to the charity by the socialite and playboy James Stunt were not insured. Some of the artworks, including a Monet and a Picasso, were later reported to be forgeries.
Although the regulator accepted that dealing with Stunt and his representatives around the loan had been “chaotic”, it said Fawcett had exposed the charity to significant risk by failing to insure the paintings. “It was wholly unacceptable for the charity to have been placed in this position,” it said.
The report criticises the foundation over its transactions with Havisham Assets Ltd, a company run by Lord Brownlow, a businessman and Tory party donor who gave millions to the then prince’s charities and who was later made a commander of the Royal Victorian Order by Charles.
The report says: “The information gathered indicates that decision-making and the recording of decisions at the time the initial issues occurred [involving Haversham Assets Ltd] was inadequate as it was unclear how those transactions were in the interests of the charity.”
The regulator also examined Fawcett’s involvement in a £500,000 donation made by the Russian businessman Dmitry Leus, channelled through a charity foundation set up by another donor to Charles’s projects, the Saudi billionaire Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz.
The Mahfouz Foundation’s involvement in the transaction, and the actions of the society fixer Michael Wynne-Parker, was heavily criticised in a report by the English Charity Commission earlier this year.
The Scottish Charity Regulator said the trustees did not always have full oversight over Fawcett – who, the regulator found, had no formal job description. Fawcett in turn did not keep trustees fully briefed on serious risks facing the charity.
The inquiry concluded “the historical governance of the charity had not always been up to the standard required” but said it had found no evidence of misconduct by trustees who were in office at the time, or by Fawcett.
It said it was content the foundation’s current trustees were “fulfilling their legal duties in relation to the governance of the charity”.
A spokesperson for the King’s Foundation said: “The findings of this report into historic activity at the organisation have been noted by the King’s Foundation.
“As the report acknowledges, the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) is satisfied with the improvements made by the King’s Foundation in recent years, including the introduction of new and robust governance practices.
“Following the conclusion of OSCR’s investigation, we look forward to furthering the impact of our charitable work and achievements as we enter the new year.”
Graham Smith, the chief executive of the anti-monarchy campaign group Republic, told Newsweek: “The Charity Commission both sides of the border has been fairly toothless in looking at these matters.”
He added: “They don’t seem to look very deeply at these issues. The conduct in relation to fundraising raises really serious questions. It does give the impression that the royals can act with impunity.”
Buckingham Palace declined to comment.
