King Charles III has announced that he will be less involved in charitable activities as he takes up his duties as head of state following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
In his first public address as British monarch, King Charles III said that his life will now be different and that “it will no longer be possible for me to give so much of my time and energies to the charities and issues for which I care so deeply”.
He added: “But I know this important work will go on in the trusted hands of others.”
Before succeeded to the throne, King Charles III had links with many charities, two of which are being investigated by the regulator.
The Charity Commission’s statutory inquiries into the Mahfouz Foundation, a charity embroiled in the cash-for-honours controversy, and the Burke’s Peerage Foundation are ongoing.
It also decided not to investigate large payments made to the Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund (PWCF), following reports in the Sunday Times.
Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Police opened its own investigation into claims that staff at the Prince’s Foundation offered to help Saudi billionaire Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz in a bid to help his bid for British citizenship and an honour.
NCVO: Queen’s patronage of charities will not necessarily go to King Charles
In a blog published last week, NCVO said that the “Queen’s patronage of charities will not necessarily be adopted by King Charles III”.
Instead, “there is likely to be a review of charity patronage across senior royals in the months ahead,” it said.
King encouraged to end personal involvement with charities
Writing for the Constitution Unit, an independent research centre based at University College London, Professor Robert Hazell and Dr Bob Morris called on King Charles III to “divest himself of all personal involvement” in his charities.
They wrote: “As Prince of Wales, Charles notably pioneered innovative charities for which he was a formidable fundraiser. The public concerns to which this gave rise, including a police investigation of allegations that honours had been offered in exchange for donations, must in future be avoided.
“No king can afford to appear beholden to any private interests. It follows that he must divest himself of all personal involvement, devolving patronage of his charities to other members of the royal family.”
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