Prince Charles faces investigation after accepting suitcase filled with €1 million cash at Clarence House

Plans to review a Qatari politician's huge cash donations to Prince Charles have been announced by the Charity Commission

Prince Charles' suitcase filled with €1 million of cash leads to investigation
(Image credit: Getty)

Prince Charles is facing an investigation following a Sunday Times report claiming that he accepted a suitcase filled with millions of euros in cash from a Qatari politician. 


Prince Charles accepted a suitcase containing €1 million in cash from the former Prime Minister of Qatar, The Sunday Times has reported. 

The monetary gift was one of three lots of cash, totaling €3 million, given to the future King by Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, a.k.a. HBJ, between 2011 and 2015. It has now emerged that the Charity Commission will be reviewing the donations. 

Clarence House confirmed on Saturday night that the Prince of Wales did receive the Qutari billionaire's contributions, issuing a statement to the paper that they had been "passed immediately to one of the prince’s charities who carried out the appropriate covenants and assured us that all the correct processes were followed." 

The news comes just a few months after it was revealed that Prince Charles' charity, The Prince's Foundation, is being investigated by police following claims it has been involved in a cash-for-honors scheme. 

Prince Charles

His Highness the Emir of the State of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and his wife, Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al-Missned follow Prince Charles, Prince of Wales into Clarence House prior to meeting students from His Royal Highness Prince Charles' School of Traditional Arts on 27 October, 2010 in London, England. 

(Image credit: Getty)

One of the donations saw Sheikh Hamad gift the prince €1 million of banknotes that were packed into carrier bags from Fortnum & Mason, the upmarket department store best known for being the Queen's favorite place to buy groceries. 

It's understood that the Qatari politician also gave Prince Charles a suitcase with €1 million during a private meeting at Clarence House in 2015. The lofty sum of money was reportedly presented in the form of €500 notes, which were then hand-counted by the royal advisers in the household. Coutts, a private bank serving the Royal Family for years, was allegedly called to the London residence to collect the cash. 

Each of the three payments went into the Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund (PWCF), which was set up in 1979 to supply grants to UK nonprofits to deliver charitable projects across the UK and the Commonwealth. 

There is no suggestion that any of the payments were illegal. 

Emma Dooney
Lifestyle News Writer

Hailing from the lovely city of Dublin, Emma mainly covers the Royal Family and the entertainment world, as well as the occasional health and wellness feature. Always up for a good conversation, she has a passion for interviewing everyone from A-list celebrities to the local GP - or just about anyone who will chat to her, really.

Emma holds an MA in International Journalism from City, University of London, and a BA in English Literature from Trinity College Dublin.