(ANSA) - ROME, SEPTEMBER 19 - The scandal that swept away two weeks ago the foundation of Prince Charles, suspected of having bestowed honors in exchange for large donations, is spreading. And this time, Queen Elizabeth's firstborn is directly in the sights. According to the Sunday Times, ilreal met "at least nine times" William Bortrick, the fixer suspected of receiving thousands of pounds in exchange for honors and titles to Saudi and Russian billionaires.
The scandal has already led to the resignation first of Michael Fawcett, one of the prince's closest collaborators and former personal assistant, from the post of director of the foundation and then of the president of the same DouglasConnell.
According to the Sunday edition of the conservative newspaper, Charles and Bortrick have met in England, Scotland and Saudi Arabia for the past seven years. Bortrick attended the donor dinners hosted by the prince at Dumfries House, the royal residence in Ayrshire and met the prince at Clarence House, St James's Palace and Buckingham Palace, as well as the British Embassy in Riyadh. According to the Times, a few weeks prior to this meeting Bortrick had brokered a six-figure donation to charity from Russian banker DmitryLeus, already accused of money laundering at home, in exchange for a meeting with the prince.
On August 5, shortly after the meeting, Bortrick wrote to the Russian: "I have just had an excellent private visit with His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales who appreciates your generosity and has asked me to send you his personal wishes." It seems that the banker was then invited to two private events in Carlo's residence in Scotland, which were later canceled due to the Covid pandemic.
Clarence House, the prince's office, at the request of the Guardian, declined to comment. After the resignation of the director he had made it clear that Carlo was unaware of the affair and indeed gave all his support to "an independent investigation into the foundation". (HANDLE).
