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King Charles III Charitable Fund

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King Charles III Charitable Fund (KCCF), formerly known as The Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund, is a charity on a mission to transform lives and build sustainable communities in the UK, the Commonwealth and internationally through grant giving and incubating initiatives. KCCF awards approximately £5 million annually to a variety of charitable causes. The Fund was founded by King Charles III, then Prince of Wales, in 1979, and its change in name was announced as part of King Charles III's accession, along with new titles of the other charitable organizations The King's Trust (formerly The Prince's Trust) and The King's Foundation (formerly The Prince's Foundation). The Fund is committed to helping people and communities to change the world around them, creating lasting improvements to people’s lives and a sustainable future for all

Overview[edit]

The Fund is primarily a grant making organisation, running both ‘large’ and ‘small’ grants programmes. The Trustees oversee all grant making, awarding grants across the following funding themes.

The Fund’s small grants programme awards multi-year grants of up to £15,000 to non-profit organisations across the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. In addition, the Fund supports its strategic partners through a large grants programme.

Mission[edit]

The charity has invested over £100 million to different causes since 1979. Our work is mainly funded by royalty income from our commercial subsidiary, Duchy Originals Limited, as well as donations from trusts, foundations and individual donors.  

Having launched the Strategic Partnership programme in January 2023, the Fund announced that seven  charities would receive £1.95 million over three years.

Inspired by HM King Charles III, in November 2023 the Coronation Food Project was launched to tackle food waste and food insecurity across all four nations of the United Kingdom.  This was preceded in December 2022, with a 1 million fund, which was supported by a personal donation from The King to fund over 800 commercial fridges and freezers, which were distributed across the UK.

Trustees[edit]

Subsidiaries[edit]

Accounting for Sustainability (A4S)[edit]

Accounting for Sustainability (A4S) encourages the responsible business community to recognise the benefits of considering the environment and wider society as part of their day-to-day business decisions, and establish a global framework for integrated corporate reporting. It has three main aims, to inspire finance leaders, transform financial decision-making and scale up action, in order to transition into a sustainable economy. A4S gained charitable status in 2021.[1]

Duchy Originals Limited.[edit]

In 1990, King Charles III established Duchy Originals Limited with its first product – a biscuit made from wheat and oats grown organically on Home Farm at Highgrove. Since then, the range has grown to include more than 300 products, from everyday vegetables and milk to noteworthy ales and biscuits, and is now run by Waitrose & Partners as the Waitrose Duchy Organic brand.

The partnership between Waitrose, Duchy Originals Limited and the Fund support British Farmers and sustainable farming programmes. The partnership gives Waitrose the exclusive right to originate, promote and distribute Waitrose Duchy Organic products in the UK and overseas. Waitrose sells Waitrose Duchy Organic products through its own branches and at Waitrose.com and also wholesales Waitrose Duchy Organic products in the U.K. and overseas. Waitrose Duchy Organic is now Waitrose’s flagship organic brand.

King Charles III aimed to create what he calls a ‘virtuous circle’ by creating a company that helps small farmers find a new market for their goods while offering consumers natural, high-quality food and promoting more sustainable production methods that improved soil health and protected the environment. Products in the Waitrose Duchy Organic range are made with high-quality organic ingredients, using meat sourced with sound animal husbandry and high welfare standards.

To complete the ‘virtuous circle’, the Partnership between Duchy Originals and Waitrose is built on the shared principles of Good Food, Good Farming, and Good Causes as set out in Waitrose’s Good Food Charter. The Partnership aims to encourage British organic farming, thereby helping to preserve our heritage in the countryside.

Sales of Waitrose Duchy Organic products generate income for the Fund’s work.

We were delighted to reach the milestone achievement of over £40 million being raised through royalty income since the Duchy Organic brand was licensed to Waitrose in 2009.

The Prince of Wales's Foundation Romania[edit]

The Prince of Wales's Foundation Romania continues to work with partners to deliver architectural, heritage preservation, farming and sustainable development projects across Romania.

Donations[edit]

Vardanyan donations[edit]

In 2007, Prince Charles personally intervened to stop the sale of Dumfries House, which was about to be sold for £45 million.[2] While he raised some of the money required through other charities, a major element of the financial package was a £20 million loan backed by The Prince's Charities Foundation. A plan was developed to have the estate become a self-sufficient enterprise.[2] The project was to be achieved through donation and sponsorship of various renovation projects around the estate, as well as through revenues from the construction of an 'eco-village' in the grounds, a planned community called Knockroon.[2] In 2008, the advent of the global financial crisis had a major impact on the project, affecting the prospects for the Knockroon development and thus the recouping of the £20 million loan.[2]

To get out of the financial hole, the foundation managed to raise £5 million from private donors, including Ruben Vardanyan, a Russian banker from Armenia.[2] Vardanyan's charities stated that both he and his wife were approached in 2013 to gather a group of sponsors that could help with funding the renovation of a run-down farm building near the estate's west entrance and turning it into an upmarket guest house.[2] One wing of the guest house would have 16 luxury guest rooms and the project was funded by donors, some of whom were wealthy associates of Vardanyan.[2] He also led the investment bank Troika Dialog that managed a network of 70 offshore companies moving billions out of Russia, details of which were exposed through the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.[3] In 2009, 2010, and 2011 the Prince's Charities Foundation received $100,000, $41,000, and $61,000 respectively via the now-defunct bank Ūkio bankas in Lithuania to help restore Dumfries House.[3] The payments were from a company called Quantus Division Ltd, which was itself part of the network of aforementioned offshore companies.[3]

Vardanyan responded to the incident by stating that while he served as chief executive, he was also a private client of Troika Dialog and any donations to the Prince's Charities Foundation were from his personal funds.[3] Clarence House insisted that Prince Charles was not directly involved in the foundation's operations around fundraising.[3] A spokesman for The Prince of Wales's Charitable Foundation and The Dumfries House Trust stated the charities had applied robust due diligence processes and no red flags arose at the time.[3]

Qatari donations[edit]

In June 2022, The Times reported that between 2011 and 2015 King Charles accepted €3 million in cash from the Prime Minister of Qatar, Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani.[4] The funds were said to be in the form of €500 notes, handed over in person in three tranches, in a suitcase, holdall and Fortnum & Mason carrier bags.[4][5] Charles' meetings with Al Thani did not appear in the Court Circular.[4] Coutts collected the cash and each payment was deposited into the accounts of The Prince of Wales's Charitable Fund. Fawcett's salary in this fund was 95,000 GBP per annum.[5] A Clarence House spokesperson stated that the appropriate covenants were carried out, and it was the "donor's choice" to make the donations in cash, after which the trustees "discussed the governance and donor relationship" and the auditors "signed off on the donation after a specific enquiry during the audit".[5] There is no evidence that the payments were illegal or that it was not intended for the money to go to the charity.[5] The Charity Commission announced they would review the information and determine if "there is any role for the Commission in this matter".[6] In July 2022, the Charity Commission announced that they would not be launching an investigation into the donations as the information submitted had provided "sufficient assurance" that due diligence had taken place.[7]

Bin Laden family donations[edit]

In July 2022, The Times reported that in 2013 The Prince of Wales's Charitable Fund had received a donation of £1 million from Bakr bin Laden and Shafiq bin Laden, both half-brothers of Osama bin Laden, the founder of militant organization al-Qaeda that was responsible for the September 11 attacks who had been disowned by his family.[8][9] Charles was reportedly introduced to Bakr bin Laden in June 2000 at an exhibition in London, and he was present at a banquet during Charles's visit to Riyadh.[9] The two met about two weeks after the September 11 attacks at a dinner organised months earlier by the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, one of Charles's patronages that has links to the Bin Laden family, to discuss the Islamic faith.[9] Charles is said to have held a private meeting with Bakr bin Laden at Clarence House on 30 October 2013.[10] The Prince of Wales's Charitable Fund responded by stating that "the decision to accept the donation was taken wholly by the trustees", and "due diligence was conducted, with information sought from a wide range of sources, including government".[11] The Charity Commission described the decision to accept donations as a "matter for trustees" and added that based on the available information no investigation was required.[11]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "A4S aims". Accounting for Sustainability accountingforsustainability.org. Retrieved 2021-10-04.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Verity, Andy; Oliver, James; Melley, James (4 March 2019). "The Prince of Wales, the oligarch and the stately home". BBC News. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Verity, Andy; Oliver, James; Melley, James (4 March 2019). "Prince Charles charity link to Russian offshore network". BBC News. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  4. ^ a b c "Prince Charles accepted €1m cash in a suitcase from sheikh". The Times. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d "Prince Charles is said to have been given €3m in Qatari cash". The Guardian. 25 June 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  6. ^ "Prince Charles: Charity watchdog reviewing information over reports royal accepted carrier bag full of cash as a charity donation from Qatar ex-PM". Sky News. 27 June 2022. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  7. ^ Coughlan, Sean (20 July 2022). "Prince Charles: No inquiry into £2.5m cash donation to his charity". BBC. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  8. ^ Pogrund, Gabriel; Keidan, Charles (30 July 2022). "Prince Charles accepted £1m from family of Osama bin Laden". The Times. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  9. ^ a b c "Prince Charles dined with Bin Laden's brother". The Guardian. 13 October 2001. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  10. ^ "Prince Charles accepted £1m from family of Osama bin Laden, report claims". The Guardian. 30 July 2022. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  11. ^ a b Furness, Hannah (1 August 2022). "Prince Charles's charity won't be investigated for accepting bin Laden family £1m donation". The Telegraph. Retrieved 1 August 2022.

External links[edit]

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