Prince Charles has jeopardised his reign. amoneyccepting

The thought of Johnson being honest, or even being seen to be honest, is a such a mad scenario, that most can't stretch their imaginations that far lol.

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Fair enough. I just find that when famous people are involved then people have a pre-conceived idea about their characters and how they will react to things. I find it interesting to think about the same situation being enacted by people we don't have opinions about, to think if we would be equally as accepting of things. (We could replace Johnson with Starmer, or Sturgeon, or anybody)

Politicians and Heads of State need not just to be honest, but to be seen to be honest.

I’m not going down the rabbit hole of imaginary scenarios volver.

Luckygirl3

*People thinking that Charles is a paragon of virtue when it comes to behaving with probity* - well not this "people"!!!

His behaviour towards Diana lacked probity, decency, human kindness.... - you name it! I have no time for him.

And this is the man who, along with his wife, we are expected to welcome as future king and queen!!!

Germanshepherdsmum

Charles is the heir to the throne and has stood in for his mother on many visits by and to other heads of state. It is customary for gifts to be exchanged and this particular gift went straight to charity. The Johnson question is totally irrelevant, a hypothetical situation.

Ok, that's not working. I'll try another analogy.

I believe that this sheikh was PM of Qatar.

So let's imagine that our PM goes on a trip to somewhere foreign, maybe the middle east. The UK owns lots of property in the country and wants to own more. We want to host a major world sporting event and the grandson of the Head of State of that country has a finger in the pie when it comes to the decision. The PM goes to visit the son of the Head of State and gives him a carrier bag full of cash. The Son gives it to an aide with a bit of a dodgy reputation to count and bank. Then twice in the next few years, the same thing happens.

Still happy?

Grany

Interesting to know how this money was banked and if the bank itself, where large sums of cash are lodged, asked for proof of where it had come from. If you or I walked into a bank with 10k in cash you can get the money laundering laws would have been enforced and we would have received a visit from the appropriate authorities. This shows more than Charlie misbehaving. I wonder how many suitcases full of unquestioned cash the Tories have lodged into their various accounts. The whole system is, like the UK Government, rotten to the core and needs to be dismantled.

Do you know that the cash was not verified in that way? Until there is bonafide proof, this brouhaha is just libellous speculation

It sounds like the sort of public school prank two rich blokes who know each other quite well would do as a bit of a joke.

As has been said, the Sheik must have drawn the money out of a bank (or got some minion to do it).

Unless he had the money stashed under his bed and the mattress got too lumpy so he pulled out the Fortnum and Mason bags from behind the pantry door and ...

Charles is the heir to the throne and has stood in for his mother on many visits by and to other heads of state. It is customary for gifts to be exchanged and this particular gift went straight to charity. The Johnson question is totally irrelevant, a hypothetical situation.

No it wouldn't.

If somebody with something to gain from this country gave Johnson a carrier bag full of money we would immediately expect him to declare it and ask the donor not to do it that way again because the cash is untraceable.

It would depend on what he did with it and whether or not the giver was rewarded in any way.

Germanshepherdsmum

Heads of State and government ministers mix with one another in the interests of fostering friendly relations between countries rather than warfare.

Charles is neither of those.

If someone gave Johnson a carrier bag full of money, how would you react to that?

MaizieD we don't know if all the money went to charities. I'm sure that many royal supporters will pop up now to tell us that of course it did, but we don't know. We don't know how the money was earned, or if it was the sheikh's own money, or if he intended it for Charles personally, or if he wanted it to support the Princes Charities. No obvious favours? I think the operative word is "obvious", isn't it?

There are rules about accepting charitable gifts from anyone, especially cash worth 3 million Euros.

A person/charity must not just be above board, they must be seen to be above board. Does anyone have the charities' returns for that period? How is the donation accounted for? How are we meant to know that the amount in the Fortnum and Mason's bag is the same amount as was donated to the charity? How do we know that none of it went astray between carrier bag and Coutts?

If you or I were running a charity and got a few million pounds donated, we'd be under intense scrutiny and we'd be telling people, no more bags of money please, let's work out how to do it transparently.

At the very least its naïve of the Prince to accept repeated donations in this way. "Giving offence", really? Its not the middle ages any more.

Heads of State and government ministers mix with one another in the interests of fostering friendly relations between countries rather than warfare.

I agree the money went where it was intended to go, no dishonesty in Charles' part but where did this money come from and why? I doubt these sheiks and oligarchs have any interest in the Princes's Trust or saving endangered ants etc. Like these wealthy russians, we have decided we don't like where their money comes from. Why are the royals, MPs and government officials involved in any way with these sort of people? Charles to boost his ego MPs etc to line their own pockets, sheiks and oligarchs for the control and influence it gives them. Why can't the recipients understand that and the dager it puts us all in. We have already seen in detail recently that people judge you by who you mix with - Prime Andrew! and then they have a hold on you.

Germanshepherdsmum

I imagine that to have refused the money would have caused great offence.

Quite.

I hold no brief for Prince Charles. He is a deliberate adulterer which I find unforgivable but it might have been difficult to refuse the money without giving offence?

An embarrassed acceptance the first time and someone explaining to the donor that we can't do this again. That's one thing. But three times? Over a period of years? Really? Do they take us for fools?

In what way do you think we are being fooled, volver? The money went straight to the charity. The sheikh doesn't appear to have been granted any obvious favours in return.

What might you be thinking of?

The media lambast him at every possible time. Yawn.
What about the Princes Trust ?
What about his work for the environment?
I doubt very much that there was anything clandestine - different cultures have different ways of dealing with money - it would be extremely discouteous to rebuff an important Qatari visitor because the visitor didn’t understand the protocols involved. And Euros? PC wouldn’t be able to toddle down to the local shop and use them!
What if a Sheik brought a gift of diamonds, would that raise a furore. I just wish people would wait to consider the facts of the case before making outrageous comments.
IMO Prince Charls is a saint compared to the likes of Boris Johnson and his cohorts.

princestrust.us/about-us/

This has got me interested in the Prince’s Trust. I hadn’t realised how much of a global reach it has. The link above is just one example of the extent and as president, Charles certainly has his work cut out to keep tabs on what is going on.

I imagine that to have refused the money would have caused great offence.

Wonder what people would say if cash donations were all turned down or not allowed! I often empty the contents of my purse into a charity box, not the same amounts as this mega rich sheik keeps as cash, but as long as it goes to charity what's the difference? Probably offloading spare change that was lying about. I also have change lying around, probably a total of about 10 pounds if I put it all together and counted it. Almost enough for a run to the launderette! This oil sheik just has more than me. Don't think PC would take illegal money and it was all passed through the appropriate checks to ensure it was a legitimate donation. Heads of state have to deal with all sorts of dodgy people who are also heads of state, the Queen does it with good grace as part of Royal protocol. The ethics are a minefield though ?

We are a very naïve nation.

The man I question was neck deep in the Paradise Papers. Remember them? The Queen and Charles and David Cameron et al squirrelling away their monies to avoid taxes here. OUR OWN QUEEN. I’m no fan of Corbyn but his days were numbered when he called out the Royals to recognise what avoidance of tax was doing to THEIR OWN PEOPLE.

And, I do know that some will point out that these investments are made with their “own” money. What have they done to warrant earning some huge amounts that they can’t go through the usual taxation processes of their own land?

Despicable.

It was Desire. But some people writing in the newspapers have not been very far from home. They do not seem to realise that anyone in Prince Charles's position or the position of a President, an Ambassador or whatever, will have to deal with those who see life differently from our view of it and deal with them politely, oiling the wheels between countries.

That's why we have laws about how such gifts must be dealt with - it seems they were followed in this case.

No concept of money, no concept of how most people live. He wouldn’t have given it a second thought. Typical royal.

There’s something questionable about it and Prince Charles is arrogant enough to think it doesn’t matter. But it does.