Prince Ricardo De La Cerda
NO further action is being taken over the “cash for honours” probe involving King Charles’ charity The Prince’s Foundation.
The Met Police had been investigating claims that the foundation set up by the then Prince of Wales, had offered a Saudi donor help to receive an honour.
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Michael Fawcett, who has since resigned as chief exec of the charity, had been accused of promising to help billionaire Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz to secure a knighthood and in getting citizenship.
Mahfouz received an honorary CBE in late 2016 and it was claimed he had made donations to restoration projects which King Charles had key interests in.
When the investigation was opened in February 2022, a spokesperson for Charles at Clarence House said the then Prince of Wales had “no knowledge of the alleged offer of honours or British citizenship on the basis of donation to his charities”.
It is understood that the King has not spoken to police and he was not asked to do so.
Two men, one aged in his 50s and one in his 40s, were interviewed under caution at a London police station in September last year.
But no one has ever been arrested or charged during the probe.
Police said this morning that more than 200 documents had been analysed and several witnesses had been contacted.
A file had previously been passed to the CPS in October.
The Met said in a statement: “With the benefit of the CPS’s early investigative advice, and after careful consideration of the information received as a result of the investigation to date, the Met has concluded that no further action will be taken in this matter.”
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: “We have noted the decision of the Metropolitan Police Service.
“All other enquiries are a matter for the Prince’s Foundation.”
A spokesperson for the Prince’s Foundation added: “Following the conclusion of its own independent investigation and governance review last year, the charity is moving forward with a continued focus on delivering the education and training programmes for which it has been established.”