King Charles charity: No further police action over Prince's Foundation honours probe

The Metropolitan Police is to take no further action after investigating allegations involving a charity set up by King Charles as Prince of Wales.

The decision followed prosecutors' advice and consideration of information so far received, the force said.

The investigation into the Prince's Foundation began last year after media reports a Saudi donor was allegedly offered help to receive an honour.

No-one was arrested or charged over the course of the investigation.

Scotland Yard said in a statement on Monday that it had concluded an investigation into allegations of offences under the Honours (Prevention of Abuses) act 1925.

"As part of the investigation the SET [Special Enquiry Team] obtained court production orders, spoke with a number of witnesses and reviewed in excess of 200 documents," the statement added.

A file of evidence was then passed to the Crown Prosecution Service.

"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," the statement said.

"Should any new information or evidence come to light that requires further assessment, this will be carried out by the Met's SET. Nobody has been arrested or charged during the course of this investigation."

Buckingham Palace said it had noted the decision but that all other enquiries were a matter for the Prince's Foundation.

Anti-monarchy campaign group Republic described the decision as "appalling".

The group made a formal complaint to Met detectives about Charles and former close confidant Michael Fawcett in September 2021, following newspaper stories.

Mr Fawcett, who has since resigned as chief executive of The Prince's Foundation, had been accused of promising to help Saudi billionaire Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz to secure a knighthood and in getting citizenship.

Mr Mahfouz received an honorary CBE in late 2016. It was claimed he had made donations to restoration projects of interest to Prince Charles.

There are no suggestions of any wrongdoing by Mr Mahfouz.

In September, police said a man aged in his 50s and a man in his 40s had been spoken to under caution on 6 September, two days before the Queen died and Charles became King.

It is understood the King was not spoken to by police, nor was he requested to do so.

When the investigation was opened in February, 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".

A spokesperson 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."