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Charles’ decision under new scrutiny over cash bags
cartoon image Prince Charles rubbing hands gleefully as they clack shopping bags full of banknotes on the back of a wine-powered Aston Martin like they’re straight out of irreverent British comedy. Windsors on the royalist’s mind today.
The footage follows the startling revelation that a suitcase containing 1 million euros (just over $1.05 million) was personally presented to the heir to the throne by a politician representing a wealthy oil-producing Arab state.
“This was one of three coins Prince Charles received personally from Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, the former prime minister of Qatar, nicknamed ‘HBJ’, totaling €3 million ($3.2 million) between 2011. and 2015” London on Sundays reports.
Described as “truly shocking” by a senior ethics official, the story will cement Charles’ reputation for financial indiscipline in the minds of many. While it is a bit too much to say that he has jeopardized his succession, it certainly raises urgent and new questions about the judgment of the heir to the throne when it comes to money matters.
last time of last yearCharles lost key aide Michael Fawcett, who was forced to withdraw from Charles’ foundation after it was revealed that he had openly arranged an honor for a billionaire Saudi donor in exchange for donations. Charles has denied having any knowledge of the handling arrangement, but a reported police investigation into the matter yielded no response, using common sense to the point of invisibility. Prince Harry has publicly accused his father of being involved in what he describes as a “scandal” in the incident.
In the latest self-inflicted disaster to hit Charles, on Sundays It revealed that Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani personally gave Charles a bag of cash on three separate occasions between 2011 and 2015.
HBJ is said to have given the prince 1 million Euros in 500 Euro bills each time – sometimes referred to as the ‘bin Ladens’ for their use by terrorist-linked organized crime gangs. Once, money was stuffed into plastic shopping bags from the luxury grocery store in Chelsea and the prince’s royal charter Fortnum & Mason store. Another time the money was in a suitcase and the third time it was in a sack.
Clarence House insisted Times Exclusive bankers said it made no difference when money deposited into an account at Coutts arrived instantly in cash and “all the right processes were followed”.
However, a source described as “one of Charles’ former advisers who handled some of the money” said: on Sundays “Everyone was very uncomfortable with this situation,” he added, “and all we could do was count the money and record what we had done. And then call the bank.”
A member of Qatar’s ruling al-Thani family, HBJ is a highly controversial figure, with an estimated personal fortune of $12 billion, he served as Qatar’s prime minister between 2007 and 2013, during which time he developed close ties with Britain, one of the country’s most invested in the major wealth fund Harrods and London’s iconic skyscraper The Shard.
It was believed that Charles used his influence to get Qataris to withdraw from the redevelopment of a high-profile site in Chelsea called Chelsea Barracks. The Supreme Court said Charles’ involvement was “unexpected and unwelcome”.
Sir Alistair Graham, former chairman of the standards committee in public life, on Sundays The revelations were “really shocking”: “I do not distinguish between a politician and a member of the royal family. “If the Qatari government wants to give a gift to the foundation, then there are viable ways to do it instead of dealing with large sums of cash,” he said.
Beatrice’s card reportedly declined at Glasto
At the other end of the financial scale, Princess Beatrice’s debit card was apparently refused three times at a bar at the British music festival Glastonbury. Said a spy Daily Star: “Tried to pay by card but was denied three times.”
good news for his father Prince Andrewbut on the money front. Mirror Author Ingrid Seward reports telling True Royalty TV’s The Royal Beat: “They’re not going to fire him because he’s going to cause more trouble and he’ll start talking, giving TV interviews, and writing books. They don’t want this again. He will be financially secure, but I would be very surprised if he retains the Royal Lodge. ”
Max Mumby / Indigo / Getty Images
Andrew walked away smiling
If Prince Andrew was worried about losing the title of Duke of York – after 80% of that town said they wanted to cut ties with him – Saturday wasn’t showing. Daily Maii showed him Enjoy horseback riding through the Windsor Castle grounds.
As The Daily Beast reportsYork Center MP Rachael Maskell proposed the “Abolition of Titles Act” after polls showed 80 percent of her citizens wanted to be freed from their ties to the disgraced royal who refused to stop using the title. It was given to him as a wedding present in 1986.
Maskell told daily mail“In February, when we focused on the case against Andrew, my voters said that 80% of people wanted the relationship with the current Duke of York to be broken down. So I met with the clerks here in the House of Commons to see how this could be accomplished.”
“He discovered that there was no mechanism for removing the title, even for the monarch. The only real way to do this is if Andrew no longer calls himself the Duke of York by his own choice. ”
“Using a title like Duke of York is an embassy duty, it bears our city’s name around the world.
“And a city that is a Human Rights City is the only Human Rights City in England. We’re already in a culture clash when we talk about violence against women and girls and the issues we’ve worked really hard for in the city, making York a very safe place.”
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Epstein victim: Andrew photo ‘shakes’ me in horror
Annie Farmer, victim of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, tells the sun The picture of Andrew with Maxwell encircling his arm, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, makes him tremble. Speaking ahead of Maxwell’s sentencing Tuesday, Farmer said in an impact statement: “I remember sitting at my desk in a Houston hospital physically shaking after seeing the photo of Maxwell with Virginia Giuffre and Prince Andrew because it made it clear to me how they were treating the order. ”
Claiming that the abuse at Epstein and Maxwell’s hands occurred when they were 16 years old, Farmer writes, “I would never have met Epstein without you.” “You opened the door to hell. Then Ghislaine, like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, you used your femininity to betray us and dragged us down this path.” Farmer says the couple did “unthinkable things” to him.
Royals rethink their colonial legacy
A sign that the royal family is at least trying to address the many horrors of Britain’s colonial past comes with news that Prince Charles is seeking public recognition of slavery in a manner similar to the annual commemoration of the Holocaust.
Charles expressed “personal regret” at connections to the slave trade in the United Kingdom during a visit to Rwanda last week, no doubt encouraged to speak up with protests about the legacy of slavery on William and Kate’s recent Caribbean tour, which has been criticized. in some circles it is seen as “sound deafness”.
A senior royal source said: on Sundays: “He is the patron of the Holocaust Remembrance Day Foundation and states that in the UK we now know all about the Holocaust and learn it in school, so it is something that is accepted and learned at a national level. This is not true of the transatlantic slave trade, and perhaps something that should have happened.
“So, just like Holocaust Remembrance Day, is there a way to do it? Do you have a memory, a way to remember it?”
Queen Elizabeth crowned her son Charles, Prince of Wales, at the investment ceremony at Caernarvon Castle.
Hulton Archive / Getty Images
This week in royal history
July 1 is one of the strangest dates on the royal calendar and celebrated the birth of Princess Diana on that day in 1961, while on the same day in 1969, eight years later, Prince Charles became Prince of Wales in a ceremony at Caernarvon Castle. in north Wales.
Unanswered questions
If someone came to your house with a million dollars in cash on three separate occasions, don’t you think you should call the authorities? This begs the question: Will the latest mystery cash scandal be just embarrassing for Prince Charles, or could it get worse and threaten his true legitimacy as monarch?
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