Prince Charles: Former aide Michael Fawcett walks his dog

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The Prince of Wales has been facing controversy over giving Saudi billionaire Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz an honorary CBE, allegedly in return for thousands of pounds worth of donations to the royal charity, the Prince’s Foundation. This emerged in November after Michael Fawcett, chief executive of the foundation, stepped down after being confronted with a letter in which he said the charity would be “happy and willing” to use its influence to help Mahfouz, who had donated hundreds of thousands of pounds.

According to the Times, Scotland Yard’s special inquiry team have formally requested correspondence between royal aides involved with securing the honour, to examine whether the fixing of the CBE could breach the 1925 Honours (Prevention of Abuse) Act, which carries a two-year prison sentence.

But while the force has made initial inquiries into Mr Fawcett, a full investigation has not been launched.

Prince Charles reportedly took part in numerous private meetings with the billionaire, as well as writing him a letter and sending him a gift, a miniature carriage clock.

Mr Mahfouz met with the future king for the first time on March 27 2014 at Clarence House, alongside Mr Fawcett and Mr Mahfouz’s fixer.

The pair discussed the Prince’s restoration of Dumfries House, the 18th-century Ayrshire mansion where he stays four times a year, and the possibility that the Saudi might donate a seven-figure sum to it, according to the Times.

The paper reported that this was put in writing a few days later, in correspondence from Mr Mahfouz’s fixer, who allegedly promised a £1 million donation for the restoration and renaming of the gardens at Dumfries House – which became the Mahfouz Garden.

The fixer also reportedly added that continued “friendship building” would lead to exclusive access to the Prince and “further very special personal and individual honours as per our conversation”.

He added: “These are, at this stage, too sensitive to mention here.”

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Prince Charles then allegedly followed up in his own personal capacity, thanking Mr Mahfouz and giving him the miniature carriage clock.

The 73-year-old royal gave Mr Mahfouz his honorary CBE at a private ceremony at Buckingham Palace in November 2016.

However, pictures from the event were not made public and the awarding of the owner was not ever published in the court circular as is standard practice.

A palace source said it was up to the award recipient to decide whether they wished to make a picture of their investiture public, both for honorary or standard honours.

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They added that honorary awards were not part of the standard investitures process, noting that they are frequently presented in the British embassy of the individual’s home country or “at any relevant occasion” when the recipient is in the UK.

Earlier this month, Prince Harry claimed he had “raised concerns” about Mr Mahfouz’s “motives”, adding that he had no involvement in what he called the “CBE scandal”.

A spokesperson for the Prince said: “The Duke and his advisors, as well as his nonprofit Sentebale, severed ties with Mr Mahfouz and his associates in 2015, no longer accepting further donations to Sentebale and discontinuing any plans for a fundraising event amid growing concerns over the motives for his support.

“The duke had one planned meeting with this donor nearly eight years ago, did not introduce him to any members of the royal family, and expressed his concerns about the donor.

“It is disappointing that The Sunday Times, knowing all the facts, has chosen to encourage speculation by being deliberately vague to try to create a falsified link between the Duke of Sussex and the CBE scandal, of which he had no knowledge or involvement.”

This came after it was reported that he took a £50,000 donation for his Sentebale charity from Mr Mahfouz in 2013.

Clarence House said in a statement: “The Prince of Wales has no knowledge of the alleged offer of honours on the basis of donation to his charities.”

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