Prince Charles: No inquiry into £2.5m cash donation to his charity

Prince Charles had faced scrutiny over the cash donations, but the charity watchdog says it has no concerns

The Charity Commission has decided against launching an investigation into the donation of about £2.5m in cash to one of Prince Charles's charities.

The charities regulator says it has no plans for any intervention following reports of the cash donation from a former Qatari prime minister.

There had been claims cash was handed over in a suitcase and carrier bags.

A senior royal source said that such large cash donations would no longer be accepted.

A Charity Commission spokeswoman said: "We have assessed the information provided by the charity and have determined there is no further regulatory role for the commission."

The charity watchdog said it had "no concerns" about the governance of the Prince of Wales's Charitable Foundation - and that trustees had submitted information, via a serious incident report, which had given "sufficient assurance" that due diligence had taken place.

Sir Ian Cheshire, chair of the charity which received the money, said the commission's decision "confirmed that there was no failure of governance, as we have also previously stated".

"It is disappointing that over 40 years of our charitable grants, totalling over £70m to various good causes, should be overshadowed by unfounded suggestions of improper management," said Sir Ian.

Clarence House said that it showed that "all the correct processes were followed".

The cash donations from Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim, made in three meetings between 2011 and 2015, had been revealed by the Sunday Times.

The Charity Commission had been considering since last month whether it needed to launch a review into the donation - but the watchdog has now said it has no plans to take any action.

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Cash donations are allowed to be accepted by charities, there were no suggestions of any illegality, and the watchdog has concluded no further inquiries are necessary.

A senior royal source, responding to concerns about accepting so much cash, had said it would no longer happen: "That was then, this is now."

"Situations, contexts change over the years," said the royal source. "I can say with certainty that for more than half a decade, this has not happened and it would not happen again."

The royal source said Sheikh Hamad's cash had been passed on immediately to the charity, which made the decision to accept it.

Charity chair Sir Ian had told the BBC that the "optics" of accepting so much cash did not look good, but at the time it was not uncommon for wealthy people in the Middle East to use large amounts of cash.

He said that more recent money-laundering regulations would make it unlikely that large amounts of cash would now be offered or accepted.

The former Liberal Democrat minister Norman Baker had called the reported cash payments "grubby and scuzzy".

He wrote to the Metropolitan Police, asking for these latest reports to be added to ongoing investigations into claims of cash for honours, involving another of the prince's charities.

Clarence House has insisted the prince had "no knowledge of the alleged offer of honours or British citizenship on the basis of donation to his charities".