Even in ordinary circumstances, a royal investiture is a very special occasion.
Held in a Buckingham Palace ballroom or room at Windsor Castle, the worthy recipients are invited up one-by-one to be decorated by the Queen or a member of the Royal Family representing her.
The ceremony held one afternoon in November 2016 was to be very different.
Presiding over events was the Prince of Wales, dressed in his gold and black military uniform. Instead of the ballroom, the venue was the Palace’s Blue Drawing Room – where world leaders, including Barack Obama, Justin Trudeau and Narendra Modi, have in the past been welcomed by the Queen.
On this occasion, just one individual was there to be honoured – Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz, a Saudi billionaire whose family made its fortune in the Middle East in hotels, property and manufacturing.
An Anglophile, the 52-year-old was also a philanthropist, supporting a number of Oxford colleges and donating large sums to restoration projects of particular interest to Charles.
These included Dumfries House, a Palladian mansion in Scotland, and the Castle of Mey, formerly the Queen Mother’s home and now one of the prince’s Scottish residences.
As well as the Mahfouz Fountain and Garden at Dumfries House, the businessman boasts a forest – Mahfouz Wood – named in his honour at Mey. And it was in recognition of his ‘services to charity’ that Charles would personally roll out the red carpet – a level of hospitality that this week may have come back to haunt him.
Indeed, less than two months into the year and already 2022 has the makings of another annus horribilis for the Queen.
Dr Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz, pictured meeting Prince Charles, is one of Britain’s most generous benefactors
Today, the carefully-laid plans for the Platinum Jubilee honouring seven decades of dutiful service stand overshadowed by the woes of the generation supposed to follow in her footsteps.
Because if the week started badly enough, yesterday it got even worse. The announcement of the financial settlement between Prince Andrew and Virginia Roberts, the woman who had accused him of sexual assault, was, if nothing else, designed to draw a line in the sand.
While questions remain about the Queen’s role in helping to fund the estimated £10million payout, at least it ensured no further damaging allegations could emerge in a courtroom.
But news that Scotland Yard has now launched a criminal investigation into a cash-for-honours scandal involving Prince Charles’ charity will have come as a hammer blow to the Palace’s hopes of refocusing the nation’s attention on joyous celebrations instead of unwholesome revelations.
The police probe follows allegations that Mr Mahfouz was promised help with securing British citizenship and a knighthood in return for £1.5million in donations to royal charities, including The Prince’s Foundation.
Question marks over the links between the donor and the foundation were first aired by The Daily Mail’s sister paper, The Mail on Sunday, last September, leading to the resignation of Michael Fawcett, the heir to the throne’s longstanding right-hand man and then chief executive of the charity.
While Clarence House yesterday repeated its insistence that Charles had no knowledge of the ‘alleged offer of honours…on the basis of donation to his charities’ – and of course the prince does not decide who gets honours – it seems inevitable that he will be dragged into the investigation.
Not only did he meet Mr Mahfouz on multiple occasions, but he is said to have written him a ‘thank you’ letter and given him a carriage clock as a gift.
Prince Charles Princess Diana and valet Michael Fawcett on holiday in Scotland, 1987
Royal sources have confirmed the prince would be willing to assist detectives if required.
As for Mr Fawcett, after 40 years of loyal service he dramatically cut his ties with Charles last November ahead of the publication of a damning internal investigation by the charity which concluded he had worked with ‘fixers’ to secure honours for the wealthy donor.
The report was scrutinised by police ahead of their decision, announced yesterday, to take their investigation forward.
Fawcett’s departure also served to prompt renewed questions about Charles’ judgment – and why he has, over the years, repeatedly sanctioned Mr Fawcett’s return into his inner circle.
‘I can manage without just about anyone, except for Michael,’ the prince famously once said.
However, ‘Michael’, 59, has long been dogged by controversy and was twice before forced to resign after being accused of bullying staff and selling on unwanted royal gifts – earning him the nickname ‘Fawcett The Fence’.
And while now no longer involved with Charles’ household or charities, yesterday’s developments mean his shadow will continue to hang over them for the foreseeable future at least.
But now to return to that autumn day more than five years ago in the Blue Drawing Room at Buckingham Palace…
According to a report in The Sunday Times, after receiving a certificate signed on behalf of the Queen, Mr Mahfouz was allowed to pose for photos with Charles – and introduced to Camilla.
Afterwards, it is claimed, Mr Mahfouz had the run of the place, with his family taking pictures, kissing each others’ hands, sitting on priceless furniture and posing in front of an oil painting of King George V. Unlike many investiture ceremonies that take place throughout the year, this one would never appear in the Court Circular. Nor were questions about Charles’s interactions with the billionaire raised until September last year when The Mail on Sunday published a letter sent by Mr Fawcett to Busief Lamlum, an aide to Mr Mahfouz.
It was written on headed notepaper and dated August 18, 2017.
File photo dated 01/05/19 of the Prince of Wales, known as the Duke of Rothesay while in Scotland, with Michael Fawcett (right). The Metropolitan Police have launched an investigation into an alleged cash-for-honours scandal after the Prince of Wales and his former close confidant were reported to police over the claims.
‘In light of the ongoing and most recent generosity of His Excellency… I am happy to confirm to you, in confidence, that we are willing and happy to support and contribute to the application for Citizenship,’ the letter read. ‘I can further confirm that we are willing to make [an] application to increase His Excellency’s honour from Honorary CBE to that of KBE in accordance with Her Majesty’s Honours Committee.’
It continued: ‘Both of these applications will be made in response to the most recent and anticipated support [of] The Trust, and in connection with his ongoing commitment generally within the United Kingdom. I hope that this confirmation is sufficient in allowing us to go forward.’
The letter was sent in Mr Fawcett’s capacity as chief executive of the Dumfries House Trust.
It was the latest in a long line of roles to be occupied by a man whose service to the Royal Family began in his late teens when the accountant’s son from Orpington, Kent, became a footman to the Queen in 1981.
He subsequently moved to Kensington Palace as assistant valet to Charles, who was then setting up home with Diana.
When Charles broke an arm playing polo, he was reportedly entrusted with the job of squeezing toothpaste on to the royal toothbrush.
Diana, however, was no fan and, when the royal couple separated, had the locks of the marital apartment changed to keep out Fawcett, who pinned his loyalties to Charles.
But in 1988 he quit for the first time after three Palace staff complained to the prince about his allegedly overbearing and bullying manner.
His resignation left Charles in tears. Within a week, he had been reinstated and promoted.
Soon after, he was made a Member of the Victorian Order – an honour normally reserved for royal household members.
Then, in 2003, Mr Fawcett was forced out again, this time for supposedly selling on behalf of Charles gifts that the prince did not want. An internal inquiry cleared him of any financial misconduct although the report painted an unflattering picture of the aide.
This time he left the royal household with a £500,000 severance package. He would also continue to enjoy the prince’s patronage as a freelance fixer and party planner, setting up events company Premier Mode in 2006.
In the following year, Mr Fawcett was made chief executive of Dumfries House, a stately home Charles helped to save for the nation which has since been turned into a community facility and hub for his charitable activities. In 2018, following a reorganisation of those charities, Mr Fawcett was appointed as £95,000-a-year chief executive of the newly-created The Prince’s Foundation.
Mr Fawcett duly set about becoming a ‘fundraiser extraordinaire’, raising millions to support the prince’s philanthropic work every year.
However, it was his success in drumming up multi-million pound donations which led to his downfall.
An Anglophile, the 52-year-old Mahfouz was also a philanthropist, supporting a number of Oxford colleges and donating large sums to restoration projects of particular interest to Charles. These included Dumfries House, a Palladian mansion in Scotland, and the Castle of Mey, formerly the Queen Mother’s home and now one of the prince’s Scottish residences (pictured)
When challenged about the contents of the letter in autumn last year Mr Fawcett ‘temporarily’ stood down from the foundation.
An official investigation was promptly launched by the charity, but before it could report back Mr Fawcett formally resigned from the post and his private contract to organise events for Charles was severed.
At the time Clarence House told the Mail that it was cutting ties with Mr Fawcett on a personal basis and would not work with his events company, Premier Mode, again.
In December, the official report by auditing firm Ernst & Young found that Fawcett had worked with ‘fixers’ to secure honours for the wealthy donor to The Prince’s Foundation charity.
But it found that the trustees of the charity were not aware of this at the time.
The findings also revealed that Mr Fawcett and another unnamed senior employee were involved in directing a transfer of funds from the Mahfouz Foundation to the now-defunct Children & The Arts foundation without the knowledge or approval of The Prince’s Foundation trustees.
In the past, Mr Mahfouz has denied any wrongdoing, with a spokesman saying he had ‘not had personal or direct communication to either request, influence or make any arrangements regarding citizenship or knighthood with Mr Fawcett or anyone connected to HRH The Prince of Wales or The Prince’s Foundation’.
Insisting that he had not expected any reward for his charitable donations, the spokesman added: ‘His Excellency had expressed an interest in applying for citizenship but in the end decided not to pursue that further.’
The police investigation is being led by the Met’s Special Enquiry Team – the unit in charge of the Partygate investigation into allegations of lockdown-busting soirees at No10.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said: ‘The Metropolitan Police Service has launched an investigation into allegations of offences under the Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act 1925. The Special Enquiry Team has conducted the assessment process, which has included contacting those believed to hold relevant information.
‘Officers liaised with The Prince’s Foundation about the findings of an independent investigation into fundraising practices.
‘The foundation provided a number of relevant documents. These documents were reviewed alongside existing information. The assessment determined an investigation will commence. There have been no arrests or interviews under caution.’
A spokesman for the foundation refused to comment on the ongoing investigation while Clarence House reiterated: ‘The Prince of Wales had no knowledge of the alleged offer of honours or British citizenship on the basis of donation to his charities.’
As for Mr Fawcett, he is said to have been left ‘heartbroken’ by events – which have led to him losing five stone in weight.
Whatever the outcome of the police investigation, it is understood that he will never again work for Charles.
‘Michael will have no more dealings with either His Royal Highness or Clarence House from now on,’ a source told this newspaper at the time of his resignation from the foundation. ‘That is absolutely clear. He’s not coming back in any way, shape or form – that cannot be stressed enough.’
Given the situation that the prince now finds himself and this beloved charities in, the forcible expression of that sentiment is entirely understandable.
