Emails which have been leaked reveal that Prince Harry axed his relationship with a Saudi billionaire amid serious concerns about his “motives”.
The Duke of Sussex cut ties years before the tycoon became the centre of a police enquiry which has scandalised the next king, Prince Charles.
Prince Charles and Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz are both joint subjects of a police investigation after the Mahfouz donated £1.5million to the Duke of Wales’ charities, before receiving a CBE honour.
Police announced last week it was launching the probe investigate whether the honour was awarded in return for the cash, report Mirror Online.
However, Prince Harry had already distanced himself from Mahfouz amid “cash for access” concerns in 2014, years before Charles accepted his generous donations.
This weekend detectives were examining a letter sent to Mahfouz’s representatives by Michael Fawcett, Charles’s longest-standing confidant and the former head of the Prince’s Foundation, in which Fawcett said he would be “very happy” to back the Saudi’s nomination for an honour, The Times reports.
Officers could also call in Clive Alderton, Charles’ private secretary to understand whether the prince or Clarence House knew of these dealings between Fawcett and Mahfouz.
The Duke of Sussex was 30 when he expressed “major concerns” about Mahfouz and distanced himself just two years before his father awarded the tycoon with a CBE at a private ceremony in Buckingham Palace.
Charles, 73, had written to thank Mahfouz for his donations and visited him several times in both Britain and Saudi Arabia.
But the future king says he has “no knowledge” of any trade-off between donations and honours and that Harry’s apparent concerns were never shared with him.
Mahfouz has also denied any wrong-doing, while Fawcett, 59, Charles’s former valet, has been forced to quit his role at the Prince’s Foundation over the disclosures.
Charity watchdogs in England and Scotland have launched a joint investigation.
Scotland Yard began to look into the Prince of Wales’ relationship with Mahfouz after a piece in the Sunday Times last year raised concerns about their dealings.
But the latest documents to be uncovered date back to 2014 when Prince Harry was seeking donations to Sentebale, a charity which helps children with HIV in Lethoso, southern Africa.
As charity co-founder, Harry had agreed to meet Mahfouz who was dangling a £1million donation offer.
The donation was even drawn up in the draft charity accounts until Mahfouz suddenly announced a new ‘precondition’ of the offer.
Mahfouz’s representative told Mark Dyer, a Sentebale trustee and former royal equerry known as Harry’s “second dad”, that he wanted Harry to fly to the Saudi’s home and meet his family before the funds were transferred.
On May 31, 2014, Dyer, 54, sent the representative an email expressing his concern: “Are we really saying that if PH [Prince Harry] commits to a trip to Saudi, Sentebale will receive the donation?
“If that is the case I need to now brief the board as the accounts have all been revised and signed off on the back of receiving £1m donation.
“I am seeing PH today at Windsor; I will brief him on the situation and see if he now wants to commit to a trip, but this certainly was not our understanding . . . it is starting to bring into question ‘cash-for-access’.”
The same day, Mahfouz’s representative responded by insisting that the proposed Saudi visit had originally been mooted by Charles at the “CH meeting”, a gathering at Clarence House weeks earlier.
On that occasion, Charles was said by the Saudi’s representative to have encouraged the idea of Harry visiting the Arab kingdom.
Harry appeared willing to do business with Mahfouz at the time and is even alleged to have joked: “Has father beaten me to it and got the money?”
On June 1, 2014, Dyer wrote back to Mahfouz’s fixer to say that he had spoken to the prince and had a “long chat” with his private secretary.
Dyer said: “There is a concern and we have to be very careful going forward.
“At no stage have we committed to a visit, we discussed maybe in the future meeting privately for a weekend on a boat.
“The POW [Prince of Wales] obviously mentioned it in passing conversation; that does not mean PH comes next week. He is keen for his son to see that part of the world, but not next week.
“What has now happened is a promise of a £1million donation but it now comes with a commitment to a visit ... that was not my understanding.
“I then discussed with PH and quite rightly he has a major concern that we are losing [sic] touch with what all this is about ... it’s not about M [Mahfouz] meeting PH and introducing him to his friends and [Mahfouz’s adviser] having as many photos as possible of PH on his desk... it’s [sic] about the children of Lesotho and Sentebale making a difference to their lives.”
Dyer, who is a godfather to Harry’s son, Archie, continued: “There is a possibility of a visit to Saudi and if this happens PH will visit M, but to be held over a barrel, I think is wrong.
“It would be a real shame if this falls through and I think we need to start again and remember the first meeting with PH. What is now on the table is very different.”
Mahfouz continued to engage with Harry and gave at least £50,000 to Sentebale.
But neither the £1million donation nor the visit to Saudi Arabia became a reality.
Mahfouz instead increased his donations to charities connected to Charles after his aides made clear they would entertain the businessman’s desire for access.
In October 2014, Charles hosted Mahfouz for a weekend at Dumfries House, the royal residence in Ayrshire.
In 2015, they met at the British embassy in Riyadh and in 2016 Charles gave Mahfouz his CBE at Buckingham Palace.
The letter from Fawcett, now police evidence, shows that the donor was initially in line to receive an honorary OBE — but that the award was later upgraded.
Following a discussion on July 29, 2014, about potential donations worth up to £10million, Fawcett wrote to Mahfouz’s representative: “With regard to supporting a nomination for an honorary OBE for His Excellency [Mahfouz], we would be very happy to send any such letter in due course outlining his philanthropy and ongoing generosity to the UK in heritage-led regeneration.
“I will come back to you when I have discovered more about the necessary process that needs to be followed.”
Fawcett is later alleged to have offered Mahfouz his backing to secure a knighthood and British citizenship, although these never transpired, The Times reports.
Prince Charles has already spoken of his willingness to cooperate with the police.
A Clarence House spokesman said: “The Prince of Wales had no knowledge of the alleged offer of honours on the basis of donation to his charities.”
Palace sources said Charles did not encourage Harry to visit Saudi Arabia.
A spokeswoman for Harry declined to comment.
Mahfouz has previously denied seeking any favours in return for his donations.
The Prince’s Foundation said: “It would be inappropriate to comment on an ongoing investigation.”
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