Welcome to this week’s edition of Bao Hoang, The Daily Beast’s Newsletter for All Things Royal and Royal. Ordered here to get it to your inbox every Sunday.
Prince Charles refuses to donate to bin Laden
Prince Charles Succeeded in avoiding reputational damage from reports that he received 3 million euros ($3 million) in cash in a shopping bag from a Qatari politician by framing it as a formality. Charity donations are a bit unusual. Happily for him, it only took the Charity Committee a few weeks to agree that it’s totally fine.
And the prince of Saudi Arabia who made a substantial donation to Charles, and who was explicitly told in writing that further generosity would be reciprocated with “special friendship” and an honor? Why is it only the fault of a rogue courtier, Charles know nothing about the background of his huge cash donation (despite meeting the guy at the embassy in Riyadh to give him a gong). Police have promised to investigate but appear to have been very quiet on the matter.
Is there much more to it after a damned report of Charles accepting a £1 million ($1.2 million) grant from Saudi billionaire Bakr bin Laden, as revealed by Sunday Times this weekend (and reported by The Daily Beast)?
“Prince Charles personally secured the money from Bakr bin Laden, the patriarch of the wealthy Saudi family, and his brother Shafiq,” the report states. “Both of them are half-brothers of Osama bin Laden, the founder of al-Qaeda, the mastermind of the September 11 attacks.”
Prince Charles’ office has now issued a statement to The Daily Beast in an attempt to refute allegations of misconduct from the heir to the throne.
“The decision to accept is made by the Charity’s Manager alone and any attempt to characterize it is false.“
– Office of Prince Charles
“The Prince of Wales Charitable Foundation [PWCF] assured us that due diligence was performed upon accepting this donation. The decision to accept is made by the Charity’s Manager alone and any attempt to characterize it otherwise is false. “
A source told The Daily Beast that the prince did not accept personal donations, tried to make a distinction between his actions and those of the PWCF, and denied the allegations in Sunday Times that the prince brokered the deal.
The source also denied the allegations in Sunday Times that Charles “agreed to contribute despite the objections of [advisers]”And denied that advisers had personally begged him and urged him to return the money, and said the allegation that the prince had been told by a trusted adviser ‘would do no good to anyone. is untrue. “
In one separate article the Sunday Times clarified that Osama had 53 half-siblings, due to the paternal instincts of their late father, Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden, who was married at least 20 times and died in a plane crash at the age of 59 in 1967, when Osama was 10 years old. The family that owns the largest construction company in the Arab world has publicly rejected Osama.
Andrew “laughs” in Panorama interview
Sun on Sunday may have solved the mystery of the mysterious, supposedly embarrassing photograph that allegedly took Prince Andrew during notorious Overview interviewcaused him to be excommunicated from royal life.
Max Mumby / Indigo / Getty Images
A source told the newspaper about the alleged photo: “It’s a still photo showing Emily interviewing Andrew. You can see his face and he is smiling. People would feel it was reckless for him to laugh in such a sensitive interview. But maybe he didn’t realize the severity or consequences of laughing or what it would look like in front of the camera. You have to remember that after the interview, he thought it was going well – but then got a wave of negative reactions. “
What a disappointment!
Omid Scobie plans new royal book
His and Carolyn Durand’s Books Freedom Search causing shockwave to shockwave, with an extremely intimate approach to the innermost thoughts of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. And now Omid Scobie is preparing a new blockbuster, to be published next year, Letters reports — and it’s billed as “a new chapter of the royal saga and features unique insights, deep access, and exclusive revelations.”
As this will follow up on Harry’s own memoir, its own memoir following Tom Bower’s Meghan-focused book, Revenge, one might think: what else is there to say? But it’s the royals we’re talking about, so…well, a lot.
Ordered here to get all the latest royal news and gossip with Tom Sykes and Tim Teeman.
Revealing
On the subject of Harry’s mysterious memoir, Richard Kay’s Daily mail wrote a piece to mull over what everyone else is thinking: just what will Harry come out with? A major concern of the palace was that he would focus his anger on Camilla.
Kay said: “It is understandable that there is considerable anxiety in the circles of Buckingham Palace that Harry will use the memoir to address perceived scores with family members and dignitaries. high god. “They were particularly concerned about his attitude towards his stepmother, the Duchess of Cornwall, women whom many of the late Princess’ supporters still blamed for the breakdown of Charles’ marriage- Diana.”
Kay said a few years ago, Harry contacted his mother’s friends to share their recollections of her, initially as a memory-improvement exercise. Kay said, one of Diana’s friends had a long discussion with him about Camilla. “Obviously he doesn’t have a high opinion of her,” the friend later told Kay. “He didn’t give her a lot of compliments and I highly doubt he forgot what we talked about that day.”
Meghan, Prince Harry, Prince William and Catherine view a flyer to mark the Royal Air Force centennial from the balcony of Buckingham Palace in 2018.
Max Mumby / Indigo / Getty Images
“It was the breakup of his bond with William over the past three years that worried the courtiers,” Kay said. “I’m assuming they weren’t impressed by Harry’s bold assertion that he wrote the book ‘not as the prince I was born but as the man I became.’
“If this is to convey some reassurance that he won’t tell stories from his privileged position in the Royal Family, people won’t be convinced,” according to “a known figure. Harry is nearing the end of his life.”
Sure, the memoir will focus on key moments like losing his mother and stepping behind her coffin as the world watches, but, as Kay says, much of it remains a mystery as to what Harry will reveal. revealed — of his hedonistic youth, for example. , and his relationship with William. It is this ignorance that can boost book sales, as well as cause a lot of fear before publication in the royal family.
Will the truth ever come out?
British historian Andrew Lownie suspects the government may be trying to cover up the details of Prince Philip’s extramarital affair.
Lownie spent more than $500,000 trying to get the British government to release the full diary of Louis Mountbatten, Prince Philip’s uncle. Mountbatten was killed in a 1979 IRA bombing in Ireland.
The Mirror report that the Mountbatten family sold his papers to the University of Southampton in 2011 for £2.8 million, but that key excerpts have been redacted.
Lownie, 60 years old, told Mirror: “The only reason I can think of is related to Prince Philip’s mistress.”
Back to school
The Sunday Telegraph There is a big feature about the new school that the children of Kate Middleton and Prince William will attend when they complete their move to Windsor before the new school year. The three children will be heading to Lambrook School in Berkshire, right across the street from their new Adelaide Cottage.
One parent sang the praises of the school in the newspaper, saying: “It cannot be compared to the hot house our daughter attended in London — large space and no cushions. The lessons are fun and there’s a tight-knit, all-inclusive community. I would defy any child not to love it.”
This week in royal history
Happy Birthday, Meghan Markle; She turned 41 years old on August 4.
Unanswered Question
Will any financial scandals surrounding Prince Charles affect his path to kingship? Will be mysterious Overview Prince Andrew’s picture finally published?
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