Detectives investigating cash-for-honours allegations involving the King’s charity The Prince’s Foundation are to take no further action.
The Metropolitan Police said the decision followed advice from prosecutors and consideration of the information received to date.
It launched an investigation in February last year following a series of newspaper articles accusing former close confidant to the King, Michael Fawcett, of promising to help a Saudi billionaire donor achieve British citizenship and a knighthood.
Anti-monarchy group Republic had made a formal complaint to the Met Police about the allegations and criticised the service’s decision, saying their complaint was against the King and Mr Fawcett, not the foundation, and claimed Charles was never questioned by officers.
The Met Police said that, having interviewed several witnesses and examined more than 200 documents, no further action would be taken.
Mr Fawcett, Charles’s former valet who rose through the ranks, resigned as chief executive of The Prince’s Foundation in the wake of the allegations.
Republic’s chief executive, Graham Smith, said: “Today the police have spun this as an investigation into the Prince’s Foundation, yet the accusations were directed personally at Charles and Fawcett.”
He went on: “Republic will begin a fresh campaign to insist the royals are equal in law, to ensure the police treat them as equals. We will be demanding Parliament investigates the questionable relationship between the royals and the police.”
Independent investigation
The Prince’s Foundation commissioned an independent investigation into the allegations, which found evidence of Mr Fawcett’s “communications and co-ordination” with “so-called ‘fixers’ regarding honorary nominations for a donor between 2014-18”.
A spokesman for The Prince’s Foundation said: “The Prince’s Foundation has noted the decision of the Metropolitan Police.
“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.”
Charles is president of the foundation but not involved with its governance, with the charity’s trustees overseeing its day-to-day activities.
The initial press coverage of the allegations included a Mail on Sunday article which featured a 2017 letter in which Mr Fawcett reportedly wrote that he was willing to make an application to change businessman Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz’s honorary CBE to a knighthood, and support his application for citizenship.
“Anticipated support”
The letter, written on headed notepaper in Mr Fawcett’s then-capacity as chief executive of the Dumfries House Trust, said the applications would be made in response to “the most recent and anticipated support” of the trust.
Mr Mahfouz is reported to have donated large sums to restoration projects of particular interest to Charles. Mr Mahfouz is said to deny any wrongdoing.
The Met Police said in a statement: “A file was passed to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) on October 31 2022 for early investigative advice. Offences under the Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act 1925 and Bribery Act 2010 were considered.
“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.
“Should any new information or evidence come to light that requires further assessment, this will be carried out by the Met’s SET (Special Enquiry Team).”
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: “We have noted the decision of the Metropolitan Police Service. All other inquiries are a matter for the Prince’s Foundation.”
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