![]() It also states that bin Mahfouz was promised the merit for donating £1.5 million ($2 million) to the Prince’s restoration projects at Dumfries House and the Castle of Mey, a 15th-century location in Caithness that now serves as one of Charles’ Scottish residences. The same email dated 2014 was cited separately by The Times on Sunday as saying that “more money will flow” once the CBE goes through. The newspaper cited an email from William Bortrick, which said the Prince’s associate “needs to keep to his side of the bargain and sort out the Hon OBE immediately”. The Mail alleged that bin Mahfouz was initially offered the fourth grade of the merit, the OBE, but it was upgraded to the CBE thanks to Fawcett’s intervention. Government documents say that the Queen awarded bin Mahfouz his CBE “for services to charities in the UK”. The event was not recorded in the Court Circular, which lists official engagements by members of the royal family. The honour was reportedly bestowed on the Saudi businessman at a private ceremony at Buckingham Palace from the hands of Prince Charles. Bin Mahfouz was given the honorary version of the CBE – a special category reserved for foreign recipients and managed by the Foreign Office – in November 2016. The abbreviations refer to the third and second highest grades of the Order of the British Empire, the latter of which comes with automatic peerage for British subjects. “I can further confirm that we are willing to make application to increase His Excellency’s honour from Honorary CBE to that of KBE in accordance with Her Majesty’s Honours Committee,” the document read, according to Mail. The letter also promised assistance with bin Mahfouz’s request for British citizenship and knighthood. ![]() ![]() ![]() Also on rt.com UK regulator backs Piers Morgan after complaints over Meghan Markle suicide comments, supporting ‘freedom of expression’ In October 2014, the Saudi businessman was a guest at the manor, when a fountain named in his honour was unveiled by the Prince himself. Bin Mahfouz donated six-figure sums to the effort and had some parts of the property named after him in recognition. The letter states that both applications “will be made in response to the most recent and anticipated support” of the Dumfries House Trust, which Fawcett headed at the time the letter was written in 2017.ĭumfries House is a historic estate in Ayrshire, Scotland, which Prince Charles purchased in 2007 and spent millions of pounds on renovating. In the letter reported by the Mail on Sunday, Fawcett wrote to an aide of Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz that “in light of the ongoing and most recent generosity of His Excellency,” he is “happy to confirm to you, in confidence, that we are willing and happy to support and contribute to the application for Citizenship.” A damning letter he allegedly wrote to an aide of a rich Saudi businessman points to a transactional deal, which involved giving him British citizenship and knighthood as a reward for his generous donations. Michael Fawcett, a close aide of Prince Charles, has recused himself from leading the British royal heir’s foundation, after being accused of trading favours for money donated to the prince’s renovation project.įawcett, who used to be a personal valet to Prince Charles and has remained a close and powerful confidant to the presumed future king, has landed in hot water over claims of corruption raised against him.
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