Prince Charles' charity caught up in police investigation

A spokesperson for Clarence house vehemently denies Charles had any knowledge of or involvement in the scandal. Photo / Getty Images

An already tumultuous week for the royal family has taken another unpleasant turn. As part of the "cash for honours" scandal, British police are investigating Prince Charles' charity.

The controversy involves allegations that Saudi billionaire, Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz, donated money to the Prince's Foundation in return for a knighthood.

According to the Sun, Mahfouz paid large sums of money to "fixers" who had access to the Prince of Wales and promised to secure him an honour.

A spokesperson for Clarence House vehemently denies Charles had any knowledge of or involvement in the scandal and police had not asked to interview him.

"If His Royal Highness was asked to help he would of course do so."

Instead the police are focusing their investigation on Michael Fawcett, who was the former chief executive of the foundation and was once one of Charles' closest aides.

Prince Charles is seen here with Michael Fawcett (L), former Chief Executive of his foundation, at Ascot racecourse in 2018. Photo / Getty Images

The Sun reports that previous investigations into the fundraising practices of the foundation revealed that Fawcett, while overseeing the foundation, had indeed worked with "fixers".

It is alleged that Fawcett wrote to Mahfouz in 2017 boasting that he would be "happy and willing" to use his influence to help him get what he wanted.

Prince Charles is president of the foundation but does not take part in the day-to-day running of it.

At this stage no official charges have been laid, nor official statements taken.

In December when the scandal was just emerging, Charles' son, Prince Harry, made a point of publicly stating that he had distanced himself from Mahfouz and had never trusted his "motives". It seems that initially he felt differently however, as, according to the Sunday Times, Harry accepted a large donation to his charity, from Mahfouz, in 2013.